Solar Embrace
by Abramus5250
Summary: Celestia, after missing her cycle for a thousand years, is beginning to recognize the signs she will experience it. But no pony can help her sate it: she is sunlight incarnate, and will inadvertently destroy any who tries to please her during this time. Yes, there is no pony who can help, but there is a certain friend of Twilight's who can... Note: story characters are anthro.
1. The Signs

Solar Embrace

Chapter One

The Signs

The world as ponies knew it was not a very old place, in the terms of geologic time. In fact, even in the eyes of one such as Princess Celestia, the climate had barely changed at all and the overall landscape had stayed the same. It had been many thousands of years since the glaciers had retreated and the tribal ponies that roamed the landscapes had settled down, creating the very first villages. From these sprang towns, and cities, and then kingdoms: from there, nations and empires, all under the same watchful eye of Celestia's kind, until at last ponies had achieved the harmony needed with the fall of Discord to truly be ready for an alicorn's rule.

Celestia still remembered the day she and her sister had been assigned by their parents, members of the High Alicorn Council, to descend from the stars and become the rulers of Equestria. Mythology had it that ponies split into four different forms based on their origins: earth came from the ground, unicorns were born of magic, pegasi came out of the clouds, and alicorns were the stuff of stars. They had been barely out of their teens all those millennia ago, respective to their species, of course, and each had been given a heavenly body to control. Celestia the sun, her own personal star, and Luna the moon, her personal refuge from the business of the day: they had not expected such responsibility, but took it in stride. In order for them to wield them, and rule fairly, they had to assume the form all alicorns had upon arrival: what appeared to be a large winged unicorn.

There had been peace for around ten years before Discord returned, his "fall" from power a mere setback in his eyes. Even though a large portion of the unicorn population had cast the spell to banish him, he had simply come back stronger than ever. However, he had not expected celestial figures, ponies whose power dwarfed his own should they shed their earthly forms, to be there waiting for him. The battles had been fierce, the earth was tossed around as the great powers collided, and in the end, Discord was once more defeated, though as it seemed, on a more permanent basis.

Equestria was free once more, and so the sisters fell into a routine of ruling the land as little as possible while still keeping everything in order, lest they get a visit from their parents to correct things that had gotten out of control. It was during this time that Celestia, the elder of the two sisters, left the land of Equestria to visit her parents once more for some undisclosed reason, leaving Luna in charge for a relatively short amount of time. Luna grew to love being in charge of both, but the instant Celestia came back from her journey, she began to resent how the ponies celebrated Celestia's time, and instead slept through Luna's own. Her bitterness and resentment grew until it could no longer be contained, and thus her transformation into the fearsome Nightmare Moon was complete.

"And thus is the end of the first book of the world's history," Twilight Sparkle said to Spike and the rest of her friends, all gathered for a small history lesson at the bequest of both princesses. "Next week is the one all about Celestia's time as our sole ruler, with the newest chapter of Luna's return having been added only a few months ago."

"Yes Twilight, we know all about that: we helped with that, remember?" Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. "You know, Nightmare Moon and all that jazz?"

"I remember clearly, Rainbow Dash," the purple mare replied, closing the book and setting it back on the shelf with her magic. "It's just the rest of Equestria doesn't know as much, and it is up to us librarians to educate them on such matters."

"No offense, my dear, but just how many ponies do you think are going to be interested in reading a history book? They are not the most engaging sources of entertainment," Rarity said, puffing up her mane with her hands when she said this.

"I don't know Rarity, but it must be more than you're thinking of," Twilight said, smoothing out the wrinkles in her skirt as she rose to her hooves from her comfy chair. "I'll be right back: Celestia will surely want to know of our progress."

The others rolled their eyes as the purple mare walked off to find a quill, some ink and a piece of parchment. She had been sending letters to the princess much more frequently as of late, and why not? It wasn't every year that the princess had an unusual amount of free time on her hands.

"It does make you wonder though, where we all came from," Spike said, his hand on his chin as if in thought. "I mean, you all are ponies, and all that stuff about earth, clouds, the stars and magic is pretty cool."

"I'm hearin' a "but" in there somewhere," Applejack said with a small grin.

"But where did dragons come from?" Spike asked, laying back on the floor and looking up at the ceiling. "I mean, I've never really thought about it until these last few days, what with these history lessons, and it's strange to me. To be a member of one of the longest-lived species in existence, and yet... I don't know anything more about dragons than when I was younger."

"Spike, even for a dragon, you're still pretty young," Fluttershy said as she readjusted her mane. She liked the fact she had grown it a bit longer than usual, as it hid her face better when she was being shy. "I'm sure you'll find out someday."

"Yeah: even after your last growth spurt, which I think puts you at the same biological age as us, you still have a long way to go," Rainbow Dash agreed. So she had been reading in some of her spare time: not as book smart as twilight, but she knew some bigger words than she used to.

"Yeah, which means one thing: you're gonna have a whole lot of birthday parties to plan out!" Pinkie Pie said, her smile glaringly obvious as she rolled over by Spike.

Spike snorted. "Tell me about it: last I heard, dragons live thousands of years, if not longer. I just have no idea if I'm any different from those other winged dragons." Oh, how he wished he had wings, but so far, no dice: maybe in a hundred years he would finally grow a pair.

"I just hope I'm there to see you get your wings, Spike," Rainbow Dash said, flittering up to hover over the group. "I mean, somepony's gotta teach you to fly, and who better than me? The best flyer in all of Equestria!"

"Rainbow Dash, dear, remember to use your non-boasting voice," Rarity said with a small smile. "I am sure you are an absolutely amazing flyer, and you've proven that many times, but in all of Equestria? Don't you think that might be a bit... excessive? Even for you?"

"Excessive? For me? Nah, I know I'm good enough to be the best," the blue pegasus said with a slight chuckle, casually flying around the room as if there was no gravity at all.

"Still, as much as you may not think it to be important, you do bring up an important point, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said as she came back, her magic scribbling over a piece of parchment paper. "The muscular and skeletal structures of ponies and dragons, though separated by millions of years of evolution, have the same relative types. Sure, dragons have their internal magic at a much higher level than most species, but other than that and their fire system, we are basically the same: anatomically speaking."

"Twilight, you know we're good friends and all, but sometimes you can be such an egghead," the blue pegasus said with a smile.

"I'm gonna hafta agree with Dash on this one: I didn't understand half the words you just said," Applejack said, scratching the back of her head right below her mane.

The purple unicorn sighed: sometimes she wished her friends had gotten a more decent education, but there wasn't exactly a university in Ponyville, after all. Plus, it cost bits to enroll, and none of her friends had near the funds to do so, even though they all more or less had jobs or businesses to run. "Tell you what, Applejack: in exchange for attending these history lessons, I'll also throw in some lessons on grammatical correctness and understanding."

"Um... thanks?" Applejack said, not exactly looking forward to such an endeavor. "I'll be sure to go to one when I don't have no work to do out in the orchards."

"Please, Applejack: I can perfectly schedule sessions where nothing conflicts," Twilight said, her scribbling finishing. She rolled the parchment tightly and handed it to Spike. "Besides, if we do miss a session, what's the worst that could happen?"

Meanwhile...

It was indeed a fine, sunny day: of course it would be, what with Celestia making sure to be very precise in the movement of the sun. Each day, every day: precise, meticulous movements that were indiscernible to those who were not an alicorn or similarly long-lived creature.

"Indeed, it is a fine day," Celestia said softly to herself, looking up at the sky from her balcony. For once, she did not have a gaggle of emissaries swarming her to sign treaties: no wealthy ponies trying to gain her favor through compliments and gifts. Everpony was busy, and she now had hours of free-time to herself. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, she actually was free to simply look outside and enjoy the clouds as the lazily floated over the Canterlot skies. It was beautiful, peaceful: something she wished others could simply take the time to enjoy, and-

A sharp flare of pain through her entire body startled Celestia out of her reverie, her mind's eye refixing itself upon her own interior. "What was-," she began, before another bolt of pain, not debilitating, but pleasant either, coursed through her body once more. It almost drove her to her knees, as it felt like every single neuron was suddenly on fire.

Then as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished, leaving Celestia, the beloved Princess of the Sun, gasping and trembling. She reached up with a hand and wiped her brow: thins beads of sweat coated the palm, running down in the lines upon her palms. Her pelt absorbed the droplets, but it did nothing to hide that fact that the pain had made her sweat.

"Could it be?" she thought, looking over her hand as the moisture finished spreading across her blazing white pelt. "Is it... is it time?" She turned and walked, on slightly trembling knees, mind you, back into the throne room. Walking up behind her throne, she waved her hand over the back: a small stone brick slid out of place, revealing a smaller lever.

With much trepidation she pulled it, watching as a small grinding noise emanated from the floor. Stones slid out of each other's way, eventually settling into place as a small, narrow staircase appeared. Celestia looked around and saw nopony was nearby: otherwise, she might have some explaining to do. Softly, she began to walk down the steps, her hooves making barely a sound as she descended below the floor of the throne room. Along the steps, small lanterns burst into flame, the light within the glass structures sending many dancing shadows down the steps. Above and behind Celestia the stones slid back into place, effectively sealing her in.

But she was no worried: there were many ways out of the chamber into which she was descending, and the stones above her were easily removed by the secondary lever near the top of the stairs. Still, it did feel like she had been sealed in some long-lost tomb, one from which none had ever emerged. The winding stone steps, long-forgotten by the ponies of the world, eventually flattened out into a room unseen by her own eyes in many, many centuries. Celestia's gaze was drawn to a great stone table, upon which several inscriptions were written in a language she had not needed to speak in a long time.

"Be alive once more," she commanded in her native tongue, the old language coming back to her like a familiar friend's face. With a burst of light the table's inscriptions filled with what seemed to be sunbeams, the brightness flooding the room. In the air, in clearly visible numbers, was a countdown timer: an odd thing one might see, but to Celestia, it was something she had not seen in a little more than a thousand years.

The numbers were familiar to her, as they would be to any pony in her situation. They were the countdown to something that only happened to an alicorn once every thousand years, give or take a few years. It was the beginning of a cycle that was as old as the alicorn race itself.

The heat: when an egg, a supremely divine egg, descended out of an alicorn mare's ovaries and into her uterus, awaiting the seed of a mate that would fertilize it and thus create new life. Celestia had only had one moment of heat before, and not knowing what to do she had left Luna in charge and went to talk with their parents on the High Alicorn Council. They had told her to find somepony to help her with it, but she was younger, much more stubborn: she had refused, and as a result, after her explosive heat, she found she had caused a coronal mass ejection from her sun. It had thankfully blown past her own little world, but the destruction it left in its wake had erased the last bits of atmosphere left on Mars. The last vestiges of life, single-celled animals put there as an experiment by some scientific alicorns as a possible terraforming experiment, combusted under the combining loss of atmosphere and the sudden cold snap that plunged the planet into a dry ice age. There was no evidence they had even existed.

She had caused a mass extinction by not sating her body's demands: she had wiped a planet of life through her selfishness.

Her horrified response was further enriched by the fact her sister transformed into Nightmare Moon due to a jealousy she had no idea her younger sister possessed. Using the Elements of Harmony amidst her grieving period, she banished her sister. Luna's banishment to the moon had, about halfway through, coincided with her own heat cycle. Her sister had had no partner, and so her own celestial body had behaved oddly: for an entire year, it alternated between normal, blood red, and a blue hue that never appeared more than once a month. Ponies at the time coined the phrase "once in a blue moon", and it had stuck with ponies everywhere ever since, only now it meant "never" instead of "once a month".

"19 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes," Celestia read off to herself, noticing how the pain she had felt had been fifteen minutes before she read these numbers. "I have a little less than three very short weeks until my heat hits me in full force."

Oh, that wasn't a going to be a huge problem: she'd simply leave the planet again, and then-

"No, wait," she said to herself, her words breaking that small, shred of hope she still had. "It takes at least four weeks to get where I need to go. I... I won't make it in time!" At this, she almost collapsed on the table, a small sob escaping her throat. It was going to happen again: she was going to cause a disaster of untold proportions, all because she had forgotten what was approaching her! The world was going to burn, she was certain of it: there was no way another coronal mass ejection would miss this time. Last time it had been pure coincidence that the planet had been on the opposite side of the ejection: this time, it would likely come from the same spot, and the planet would be right in the middle of it.

A puff of magical smoke temporarily snapped her out of her woe, and with a teary eye she looked up to see a scroll descend and land right in front of her. "Sleep once again," she choked out in her old language, watching as the timer disappeared and light faded from the great stone table. What was she going to tell her sister? What was she going to tell her subjects? Gingerly reaching out with one hand, she picked up and unfurled the scroll, her eyes hardly noticing the handwriting of her faithful student.

"Oh, Twilight, you and your friends have made so much progress," she muttered, rolling the letter up. "But I am afraid the Elements of Harmony cannot stop a coronal mass ejection, nor could they aid me in my retreat. I am so sorry." She wiped another tear from her eye, the scroll clenched tightly in her other hand.

"My selfishness, my forgetfulness, is going to cost this world everything," Princess Celestia whispered to herself. "Even if the atmosphere is not stripped, the magnetic field of the Earth will be irreversibly damaged. Every time a bout of solar wind passes by, the field will continually weaken, until it is gone forever. The atmosphere will dissipate, the skies will burn, the seas boil, and every living thing on this planet will cease to be. The Earth will become a barren lifeless husk, an everlasting monument to my failure as not only an alicorn, but as a just ruler." She choked back another sob: all life on this world would be gone, just like that.

"Well, except for the dragons, of course," she remembered, smiling in a sad sort of way. "The vacuum of space is no hindrance to their kind, nor is any true temperature fluctuation. They would survive, as they have for so... many... years."

Her eyes widened in surprise: of course! How could she have forgotten the tales? Her kind was not the first to govern over this world: long before the alicorns had evolved, another race, equally as powerful and likely much wiser had ruled for many, many millions of years ago. They were still around, having relinquished their control peacefully so that another race, Celestia's kind, could look after the galaxy.

Dragons had once ruled all, and right now what she needed was not a pony, but a dragon to satiate her needs. But what dragon would do this deed for her? The dragons of the world were reclusive, large and ferocious: they would no doubt try to use her for their own means, add her to a collection of sorts: her power may be great, but unless they were willing to be with her with no ulterior motives, her heat would never be sated and the world would still burn. After that, how many dragons would come after her, seeking revenge for the treasures and lands lost, for the friends wiped out by the ensuing doomsday? How many would she have to kill, in her celestial form, just to keep herself, and by extension her sister, safe?

All of those things aside, who could she ask to take such a responsibility upon themselves? She knew of no dragon with a heart willing to take such a risk, nor could she think or a dragon living in her borders. It was maddening: so close to salvation, only for a new obstacle to come crashing down into place. Plus, there was the whole problem of size compatibility, stamina, and simultaneous orgas-

"Wait," the princess said, looking down at the scroll in her hand. It was like many other she had received from Twilight over the years, the parchment the same design. The ink the same, written by a quill as always, but the message itself was nothing new. How it had been sent, on the other hand, was something unique, something only Twilight and her friends had a connection to...

"Spike," Celestia said, her eyes widening. Spike was a dragon, and no ordinary dragon at that! He had been raised in the pony world and taught to suppress and control his natural draconic instincts. He would not think like a normal dragon: in fact, he would think like a pony!

"It must be him: there is no other alternative," Celestia muttered to herself, turning and almost bolting for the stairs. "I must inform Twilight and her friends of this at once. They will need to... help me prepare."

A bit later, and Twilight was reading another small snippet of history to her friends: they were all rather bored, judging from their facial expressions.

'And so, with the defeat of the Mega-Hydra, the swamps of Southern Equestria were safe once more," the purple mare said, magically turning the page. "Then, following the-," There was a knock at the door, causing the purple mare to pause. "Who could that be?" she thought, turning to Spike. "Spike, could you please get the door?" she asked, turning back to her book. "I am just about to start on the portion of the Great Minotaur/Griffin War, and I don't want you to miss a single bit of it."

"Fine, sure: whatever," the dragon said, getting up and walking away from the near-comatose remaining Elements of Harmony. "Why does she think that's actually interesting all the time? I mean, sometimes it is, like that story about how Celestia came here, but griffins and minotaurs? Boooring," he thought. Twilight's obsession with books was beginning to become strangely time-consuming, but as always, he paid it little attention. Finally reaching the door and opening it, he was absolutely shocked to see none other than...

"Princess Celestia?" he asked, unsure why she looked at him with a sudden intensity. "What... what are you doing here?" If the princess ever dropped by their library home, it was usually announced, with a letter preceding her arrival. This was... unexpected, to say the least.

"I came to speak with your friends, Spike," Celestia said, brushing past him. "I will talk to you in a short amount of time, but for now, please stay here. I have urgent news to discuss with them which, in time, you will also learn about."

"Well, okay, I guess," the dragon said, staying where he was. The princess was never that brusque: just how bad had something become? What could this important news possibly be, anyway?

Celestia walked past the dragon, a chill running up her spine at her rather... uncouth treatment of him right there. He was the solution to not only her problem, but the coming destruction, and she had just treated him like she had few others! Oh,how it would have been so much simpler to just take him away, right there, leaving only a note for Twilight and her friends. But no: the princess was no dragon-knapper, and so she would inform Twilight ahead of time, if only to expedite the healing and acceptance process that the unicorn would undoubtedly go through. Spike had not left her side for many, many years: who was to say how she would react to news such as this?

"P-Princess Celestia! What... what are you doing here?" Twilight asked, nearly tumbling backwards off of her chair in surprise as said princess entered the room. The other five mares bolted upright, all signs of tiredness erased from their minds as they beheld their ruler.

"I have come with urgent news, my little ponies," Celestia said, remaining standing in front of the six mares. "There is a crisis about to befall Equestria: nay, the world, and I require assistance." Short, simple and to the point: there was no time for long-winded, grandiose speeches today, and truth be told, Celestia preferred skipping useless bits of information in order to get a message out quicker. That was why her letters were never really long, unlike her student's: Twilight Sparkle liked to ramble, for sure.

"How can we help, yer Majesty?" Applejack asked, arching an eyebrow.

"What is this danger?" Twilight asked, rising to her hooves as she did so. "Has Discord gone bad again? Are the Gates of Tartarus broken? Has Queen Chrysalis returned with an army to invade us? Has-,"

"No, Twilight Sparkle, nothing like that has befallen us," the princess said, her tone a far graver one than she was used to speaking. After all, the world was at stake, not just Equestria. "Within three weeks, there will be a coronal mass ejection from the sun, and... I will be powerless to stop it on my own."

"A what now?" Rainbow Dash asked, scratching her head.

"A coronal mass ejection, or CME: when the sun sends out a massive burst of solar wind and magnetic fields out into space. It... it can destroy or permanently damage a planet's own atmosphere and magnetic field," Twilight said, her eyes going wide in horror as she uttered the exact words from her astronomical dictionary. "Princess, if you cannot stop it, then what can we possibly do? I'm not sure the Elements of Harmony can stop such an... event."

"You are right, Twilight Sparkle: the Elements cannot save us. However, I did not say we are without hope."

"But, you s-s-said you w-w-would be p-powerless to s-stop it," Fluttershy said, hiding behind Rarity.

"I said I would be powerless to stop it on my own, dear Fluttershy," Celestia said softly. "However, this is something I cannot entrust any of you to do: I require another."

"But we want to help!" Pinkie Pie cried. "The world is in danger! We're all gonna diiiiiiiii-," she cried again before Applejack shoved a pillow in her mouth to shut her up.

"I know that, Ms. Pie, but you all simply lack the... tools I need to accomplish this task, and there is no spell that can protect you from this endeavor's dangers."

"But, if you don't need us, then... why did you come to us?" Rarity asked, her question filled with curiosity.

"Because, girls, I need your permission for what I am about to do," Celestia said, steeling herself. "Instead of the Elements of Harmony, I require... Spike."

There was complete and utter silence as the six mares took in the information. Then, Twilight, unable to contain it anymore, let loose a small stream of giggles. Brought on by stress, no doubt: many, many beings react to horribly bad or unexpected news with laughter, lest they just break down.

"What is so funny, Twilight?" Applejack asked, now more confused than ever.

"Celestia: I know you must have the best interests of the world at heart for this matter, but... Spike? I mean... what can he do that we cannot?" She was polite, but for the ponies gathered there, she almost sounded... indignant. Spike hadn't really done much in the way of grand, life-changing help other than save the Crystal Empire from King Sombra. She, and by extension her friends, had defeated Nightmare Moon and freed Princess Luna, defeated Discord and reformed him, and had helped defeat Chrysalis and her invading Changeling hordes. Besides, he was just so... young! Chronologically, anyway: would he even be up to a task like this?

Celestia was silent for a moment before the temperature in the room noticeable rose. "Twilight, I came to politely ask for your permission to bring Spike along with me for this mission, and I receive scorn and doubt instead?" Her voice was calm, but it carried with it the entirety of her regal persona. "Have you learned nothing of the values of friendship you so sorely needed those many years ago?"

Twilight visibly blanched. "No, I'm sorry princess, I didn't mean it like that. I just-,"

"Twilight, you have been a good student, but there are some things that not even you can do," Celestia said. "It is not your fault: nature has a way of limiting a pony, and these "limits" are things that not even I can overcome. I suggest you get ready for Spike to depart: I shall come for him tomorrow morning. I hate to tear him away from you all, but it is something that must be done: for the good of all. If everything goes well, he shall be returned back to you in three week's time, safe and sound."

"And if everything does not go well?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes ready to burst into tears.

Celestia sighed, a soft, sad sigh that made every other pony in the room want to start bawling their eyes out. "Then I suggest you make peace with yourselves. But do not fret too much: you will likely not even feel a thing before... the end."

With that, the princess walked away, stopping one last time to look back at the mares. "May I ask one more thing of you all?" she said softly.

"Yes?" Pinkie Pie asked, having spat out the pillow crammed in her cavernous maw.

"... do not tell anypony else of what is about to happen. I will not have this kingdom, should things not go according to plan, descend into a state of anarchy before the end. If we are to die, then we will do so with grace and dignity." She did not need to add that suicide would be far more painful for ponies seeking to end their lives than the death of the planet. She could not bear to have so many hurt long before the end.

The six mares nodded softly. "Nopony will hear a word from us, Your Majesty," Applejack said softly, removing her hat. "The only other thing we can say is, well... good luck, Celestia. We'll be counting on you."

"And Spike," Twilight Sparkle added softly, looking down at the floor as she did so.

With a heavy heart the princess finally reached the door, stopping by Spike as she did. "Be sure to be kind in your farewells, Spike," Celestia said. "They may be your last," she added, thinking it but refusing to say it. With that, she strode out the door, not looking back as she flew up and away from the library.

Spike, having not heard any of the conversation, closed the door with a confused look on his face. "Farewells?" he muttered, walking back to the others. "Twilight, what did she mean by farewells?"

The six mares looked upon him with a mixture of sadness, curiosity and disbelief. "Spike, please sit," Rarity said softly.

"What's going on?" Spike asked, doing as he was told. "Did the princess say something about me? Am I in trouble? Are you... are you all crying? What's the matter?"

"Spike, there's something you need to know," Twilight said softly, a few tears forming in her eyes. Behind her, the sun continued it's peaceful arc through the sky, nopony else in the country knowing that it would spell their doom in less than three weeks.


	2. A Somber Farewell

Chapter Two

A Somber Farewell

It was early morning, and all the ponies of Ponyville were still soundly asleep in their beds. The stars were still twinkling slightly in the far western sky, though they would soon disappear as the sun rose higher over the horizon. Well everypony was asleep, save for one pony in particular, and the dragon with whom she had spoken the night before.

"I'm... what?" Spike had asked, utter disbelief filling his voice. He had never left Twilight's side for many years: he was even nicknamed "The Librarian's Shadow" by some of the younger ponies in the town. A slightly cruel moniker, to be sure, but Spike had never said he was offended by it. If he left, who would be there to help her? Who would be there if any of her friends needed help?

"You are leaving us, Spike: you have to go assist the princess with a mission of the utmost importance," Twilight remembered saying. "You... you might not come back, or ever see us again, if you don't accomplish it." Her throat was still sore from all the crying she had endured after Spike had left the room in a dazed stupor. He... he hadn't said a single thing after that: not even to the others. Of course, what could he have even said? He was being told that he had to leave, to help the princess with a mission where the fate of the entire world rested on his head. If he failed, his friends would die, and there was a possibility that he might die as well. She hadn't wanted to go into the specifics, as truthfully... she didn't know what would happen to him.

"Better go tell the others," Twilight said, getting dressed and walking down the stairs. Strange, they felt so much longer, as if she were walking to her own death. Well, she would die, if Spike did not accomplish this mission, but she steeled her nerves: she had realized her earlier assessment of him was wrong. Spike had been there for them, for all of them, through the thickest of thick and the thinnest of thin. He was everything they could ask for in a friend, and she would wish him the best of luck, no matter what challenges lay before him. He would be with Celestia, for crying out loud! Surely she, of all ponies, would be able to keep him safe.

Opening the door, the purple mare was not looking out like anypony else would upon exiting a building. As such, after only a few short steps, did she almost bump into a cluster of ponies gathered outside. Five other, very familiar ponies...

Off in the other room, Spike was sitting up in bed, his legs slung over so that his feet were dangling merely inches above the floor. His head, held in his hands, was staring out at the morning sun, the rays starting to shine through the window. Off in the distance, a grey pegasus mare flew clumsily around, delivering early morning mail before any other pony mailmare would in the entire country. His mind was a flurry of thoughts, yet strangely, they were not jumbled together, unlike the stacks of mail said grey mare had to sort through with adorably chameleon-like eyes. The thoughts of the dragon were neat, orderly, separated into little piles like Twilight's color-coded sticky notes: he was not panicking, but instead, was filled with a strange sense of... resignation. He had just been given an assignment, a mission, if you will, to go with Celestia and do... something, to save the entire planet. No pressure or anything, but for some reason, he felt this was not the whole story.

Why did he think this? He had learned to be inquisitive: it came with the job of helping the Elements of Harmony solve all sorts of problems, whether they were minor or major. He knew there was more to this disaster than Twilight, and through her Celestia, was letting on, but what was he going to do about it? March right up to the princess and demand a full explanation as to the severity of the situation? Threaten her if she doesn't comply?

"Yeah, because that plan would work out so well," he muttered, his sarcasm dripping in every word. "Might as well try and seduce her, since that would probably end in the same way." He shook his head, frustration and a small but growing sense of impending doom filling his body and mind. If he failed, if he was unable to complete this task, his friends would die: Twilight had told him that much through her tears. She hadn't said anything about him, but he had a feeling that if they didn't survive upon his failure, then he wouldn't either. Their friends had either remained silent or cried the entire time, especially Fluttershy: she was perhaps the most scared of all of them. Of dying, that is.

"Well, I gotta get ready," Spike muttered to himself, plating his feet firmly on the floor. Standing up, he felt his vertebrae click back into place, an occurrence that was happening more and more every time he woke up. He had no idea why this was: Twilight had told him his body might just be getting ready for another growth spurt, but he wasn't completely sure: perhaps his wings were finally about to come in? He was taller than before: much taller, so Twilight had finally said no more basket and had given him a bed of his own, in a room of his own. Stretching his arms up over his head, the dragon took a step forward as he leaned to one side, and then another, his end of his tail falling to the floor with a loud thwap before it balanced itself out behind him.

He looked at the small bag he had grabbed: indeed, he would not be able to pack very much, even though he could carry more than an average pony. His height and, most likely, his heritage, were responsible for that. When Celestia had greeted him at the door, he had looked into her eyes, which were level with his own. His spines, forming a pseudo-crest on his head, were just half an inch shorter than her slightly longer horn.

Picking up the empty bag, he decided to grab the most obvious things he'd need: some clothes, as he doubted the princess would want him to walk around in his hatching suit. Packing quite a few shirts, some different pairs of pants and the most important item, some underwear, Spike looked at his hat collection. Of all the things he had decided to hoard as a dragon, he had chosen hats. Why, he would never know: he couldn't get sunburned or suffer windburn or any of those kinds of burns, but he collected them anyway, if only to look cool.

"Won't need any of those," he said, sadly zipping shut his clothes bag. Hoisting it over his shoulder, he walked away, pausing at the frame of his bedroom to look at it once last time. With sigh and the complete realization he might never see it again, he left, the tip of his tail curling around the doorknob and pulling it shut. He didn't bother to lock it: he had nothing worth stealing, really, and what idiot would try to rob one of the Elements of Harmony?

Walking down the stairs, he looked down at his feet, wondering why each step seemed to be less promising than the last. How was he supposed to do this: help save the world and all that? Spike knew he wasn't particularly brave: he could be, here and there, but if a threatening situation presented itself, his first instinct was to run and hide. Perhaps that was why he had never gotten hurt really hurt in all those dangerous shenanigans he had participated in when he was younger.

But there was something about this... task that he felt he could not back down from. It was not like eating an adult dragon's gems, or going to find others of his kind, or even encountering an Ursa Minor. No, this was not so much a direct threat to himself, but a threat to all of Equestria, and the world. It was direct threat to the ones he cared for, the friends he had made his entire life.

He heard a soft cough and looked up from his thoughts, coming to the realization he had stopped walking down the stairs, with only three more steps to go. He was rather surprised to see Twilight standing there, and alongside her, five other very familiar ponies. Shouldn't they have still been asleep or something? None of them, especially Rarity, liked to get up this early in the morning.

"You guys, what are you doing here?" he asked, very surprised to see the Elements of Harmony standing before him. What was with the cloaks they were wearing? Had they not wanted any early-bird ponies to possibly recognize them on their way here? "I honestly didn't think I'd be leaving this early: is Celestia outside or something?" It'd show poor tact on the princess's part to show and just whisk him away without a chance to... say goodbye.

"No, no Spike: Celestia ain't outside," Applejack said softly as the dragon stepped off the last step. "She did tell us she'd be 'round these parts in the mornin', but she didn't specify just how early she'd be arrivin'. So, we thought we'd all come to say goodbye now, so we wouldn't miss yer... leavin'."

At that, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both broke down into sobs and rushed the dragon, enveloping him in a great hug that threatened to squeeze the air out of his lungs. Spike, unsure of what to do, tentatively hugged them back. He would not cry, he would not cry, he would not break down...

"Aw, to Tartarus with that," he thought, hugging the two sobbing mare back with equal might. In his closed eyes, small droplets formed, rolling down his cheeks as, suddenly, more bodies pressed into his own. Spike opened his eyes to see the other four mares pressed against him, all of their arms encircling him. It was a group hug the likes of which he had never experienced: he could feel the love, the grief, the regret and the hope oozing out of them. It seemed to hang in the air as the six mares, and one drake, cried, for they knew what lay before them. Only good friends, and very good friends at that, could exude such deep, powerful feelings for somepony, or in this case, somedragon.

After minutes, or maybe an hour, as it was hard to tell in his current state, Spike felt the six mares draw away from him. He dropped his arms to his sides after wiping a tear from the end of his nose, his eyes feeling a bit puffier than usual. He didn't want to say goodbye: he wanted to tell them he would stay with them until the very end, that he'd defy even the princess to spend the last remaining weeks of life with his friends. But he couldn't: he was scared and unsure and positively overwhelmed, but true to his word and code of honor, he would do this. He was very, very tempted to run, but he would not: he could not. They were counting on him, and the last thing he'd do was betray their trust and faith in him.

"Spike, we didn't think there'd be much to send with you, as Celestia would likely take care of both of your needs," Twilight said softly. "However, there one thing, one very special thing, we'd like to send with you, just so you don't lose sight of your goal."

"Yes?" Spike asked, not sure where this was going. They were giving him a present, now?

With a small burst of magic, six little colored pieces of... something rose out of each of the mare's pocket and coalesced together. Then, from behind Spike, a box sprang forth from a dusty shelf and opened. A large, very brilliant wristband shot out and collided with the six colored pieces, and in a flash, it was joined together as one single item.

"Each of us thought you'd like a little something to remember us by, but too many gifts increased the chance you'd lose one. So, we thought we would simply combine them into one big gift," Rarity said as Twilight's magic brought the quite manly-looking wristband closer to Spike, who took in without a word. He looked upon it in awe, for he had seen nothing like it before. "We had been planning on giving this to you on one of your birthdays some time down the road, but today seemed like a more... appropriate time."

Each inlaid precious stone was the color of the one who had brought it for the whole set. Fluttershy's, a brilliant yellow beryl: Applejack's, a gleaming orange clinohumite stone. Pinkie Pie's was a shiny pink alexandrite stone, and Twilight's was a deep purplish amethyst. Rainbow Dash had selected a fine blue spinel stone, and Rarity's was a very, very white moonstone. They glittered in the light, and when Spike speechlessly slid the piece of art onto his wrist, they reflected their light off of his shiny scales beneath, appearing to shine like they were emitting the rays of sun that passed through the windows.

"...wow," was all Spike could say as he looked over the amazing gift. "Wow: thank you. Thank you all so much. This... this is beautiful." Oh no, he felt like crying again. This time, however, he managed to suppress it, lest they all burst into tears once more as well.

"Just... come back to us, all right, Spike?" Rarity said softly, each of them holding one another's hands for support like one great big friendship circle. "We'll all be waiting for you: just... do come back in one piece, okay?"

Spike opened his mouth to say he would, that he would succeed and come back to them in one piece, but suddenly a knock on the door interrupted what he was going to say. Looking each of his friends deeply in their eyes, as if trying to memorize their faces for good, he walked past them and stood before the oaken door. With a sigh, he turned the knob and opened it. There stood Celestia, looking unusually groggy that fine morning. Her hair was slightly unkempt, as if she had not had the time to magically comb it on her way over, and her dress, while still rather stunning, seemed a bit... ruffled. Maybe she had slept in it the night before and not bothered to change?

"Princess? Are you all right?" Spike asked, hoisting his bag further onto his shoulder. He was glad he had not packed more: three weeks of clothes was enough weight for him to carry without bringing everything else he could carry.

"Oh, I'm just... a bit tired, is all," the princess said, waving away Spike's question as if it were tangible. "I spent much of the night telling my sister Luna of... what I have to do. What we have to do: sorry," she added. She must have been really frazzled, as she was normally so serene and calm, even when telling bad news. Only rarely did she ever seem to "lose her cool" when she had horribly bad news: then again, the death of the Earth was an altogether different category of "bad news".

"Did she take it well?" the dragon asked. Luna's temper took a lot to unleash, but when it did happen, ponies everywhere knew to head for the hills. She as still younger than her sister by who knew how many centuries or millennia, and unlike Celestia, she had yet to master the majority of her emotions, lest they take control of her power once more. She was doing better, but she still needed a lot of practice.

"As well as could be expected: her Royal Canterlot Shout broke a few windows, but other than that, she accepted things as they are going to be," Celestia said. That much was true: the Royal Canterlot Shout was many, many levels above the Royal Canterlot Voice in terms of volume. "Have... have you said goodbye to your friends?" There was a strange tone in her voice: an unbearable finality mixed with a bizarre sprinkling of hope, as if she was wishing that no matter what happened, Spike would never forget his friends.

"I..." Spike began, looking back into the room. The six mares, more tears forming in their eyes, waved him goodbye for what felt like what would be the last time. "Yes," he said, giving them all a small wave before closing the door behind him, cutting them off from his line of sight. "Yes, we have said our... goodbyes." Wow, he never thought saying that last word would be so difficult: he had nearly choked on it.

"Spike, if you'll follow me, I will take you to our destination," Celestia said, slowly climbing into her chariot. And yet, it was not her same chariot: her chariot did not have great golden wings that were articulated and moving, or a massive sun emblem on the back, or a total absence to royal pegasi guards to pull it. It also was not enclosed like a carriage, and the rims most certainly did not spin. Also, the carriage portion itself was a bright blue, thus completing the overall bizarre appearance.

"Where did you get this from?" Spike asked, slowly climbing into the enclosed vehicle. The door shut and locked magically behind him, and in an instant he felt they were airborne. They were moving fast, all right: the steady pumping of the golden wings outside were like those of some great golden eagle carrying them off to some mountain fortress or something. Plus, they might have been moving faster, for all he knew: the only occupants were Celestia and himself. Curiously, she had a very small suitcase, easily the size of a large purse. How did she fit all of her clothes in there? Maybe she had placed a space-distortion spell on the inside, to fit her necessary outfits?

"It is a relic, I suppose: from the days before the time of Ponyville and indeed, many of the towns and cities in Equestria," Celestia said, looking out the window in a sad sort of way. Ah, the memories of the years gone by: she could recall every one with a clarity many ponies would find envious. "It was originally used for escorting foreign diplomats from the Canterlot palace back to their homes, as more often than not, their country was not the safest to travel through. Ours was, by the way, even after I had the castle relocated to the now-capital of Canterlot. Many a diplomat would have been slain by arrow-fire in their native lands had it not been for these incredibly resilient, and might I add magically strengthened, carriage walls."

"Just how fast can this thing go?" Spike asked, noticing how the inside of the pseudo-carriage, despite the fierce beating of large golden wings, was barely moving at all. It was considerably less bumpy than a normal carriage ride, to be sure, and every beat of the wings sent a rather relaxing feeling through his body. It was the same feeling one had when they spent time in a boat: the gentle rocking of the waves could be felt long after they were back on land. To Spike, who had never been on a large ship, it was almost like he were in a cradle, being gently rocked by a motherly figure.

He had never known his mother, or his father: in fact, he knew of no blood relatives.

"Far faster than an average pegasus in a perfectly horizontal flight," Celestia said, looking back to Spike as her words snapped him out of his thoughts. That was fast, as a pegasus performing at top speed was faster than one might think. "It will bring us to our destination within thirteen hours, so I suggest you get some rest. We will have plenty of work to do when we get there." As if to emphasize her point, she yawned in a none-too-ladylike manner: she was really, really tired.

"But... where is our destination?" Spike asked, curious as to why the princess needed such a fast vehicle to reach their destination. Could the place they were going to be some ancient kind of planetary defense mechanism that needed an alicorn's magic and a dragon's... whatever he had, to activate it?

"On an island, far off the coast of any country on the continent," Celestia said softly, her eyes beginning to droop shut. "It has no name, and has long been forgotten by the cartographers of the world: a barren, secluded place, if you will. It is uninhabited, save for some bugs and other invertebrates: the island itself is very... chronologically... young." Then, when her eyes completely closed, she fell completely and utterly asleep, her soft snores filling the otherwise silent flying carriage.

Spike watched as she leaned over and lay her head down on a pillow, her actions suddenly making him rather tired as well. "Might as well do as she suggests: I barely got any sleep over all this... news," he thought, laying his head down on his clothes bag, as the pillow he had didn't really support him. It wasn't terribly comfortable, to be sure, as he had to tuck his tail up by him lest he let it lay across the princess. She likely wouldn't react very well to that, but otherwise, he had a feeling she had chosen him for a very special reason. Within a few minutes, and after he had softly drawn the curtains to block out the sunlight, he too fell asleep.

Inside Celestia's mind, she was thinking: yes, thinking. Not dreaming, not hallucinating: thinking. Alicorns could do that, and it had helped her rule so good for so long, or at least, up until this disastrous slip-up. That was perhaps the first mistake she had made in a very, very long time, but it was likely going to be a much, much more deadly one, should it not be resolved. Her thoughts, however, were not on what she was going to do about the upcoming disaster: they were instead focused on Spike, and more frustratingly, herself.

What exactly was she going to do with him? She could remember her first failure of a heat. She had gotten so damned horny, so insatiably frustrated, that she had nearly gone mad. To have a gaping void where there should have been fullness had literally made burn with the fire of a sun's exterior. Her mind had been under such stress that for a while, she had truly feared she had gone insane. After all, how could an insane alicorn be able to know they were not insane? Her body had descended into a cascade of fire that would have destroyed anypony else who was not an alicorn, had somepony from the time of her... time, volunteered to assist her.

But now, things were different: she hopefully would have a partner in this young dragon, but something about him gave her pause. It wasn't his ancestry, it wasn't the fact that he looked so different and yet so similar to a normal stallion: it was something a bit more personal. She was inexperienced in the ways of sex: she had never had a lover before, as she was far too intimidating a prospect for even the raunchiest and bravest of creatures on the planet. Not even Discord, in all his power, wanted to try and "take a whack at her", since he was an Earth God of Chaos and she was on an entirely different level than he.

A virgin princess such as herself knew of the concept and actualities of sex: she had read the books, listened to her parents about it (by the High Alicorn Council, that had been embarrassing) and had occasionally spied on others, whether on purpose or accidental. Some of those others being her niece Cadence and Twilight Sparkle's brother Shining Armor, both of whom still had no idea she had witnessed their "all-night romp" in the honeymoon suite after the wedding. She had had no idea her niece could bend that way, or that Twilight's brother had such... endurance.

Would Spike even like her in that way? As in, would he even be physically attracted to her, or would this all be a futile waste of time? She knew dragons carried less of the attributes of ponies, including alicorns. Would he be attracted to her large perky breasts, ones that she knew were the countless wet dreams of countless stallions across the globe? Luna had told her as much, laughing every time she did: it was embarrassing, to say the least. The fact that her nipples were definitely twice the size of a normal mare's, and the areola around the nipple triple the normal size did nothing to assuage her troubled mind. Dragons did not have such large mammaries: they had none, in fact, and the attraction, as far as she knew, was more towards the shininess of one's chest scales. Underneath her breasts were abdominal muscles that were defined enough to be seen, but not so much that it looked like she constantly worked out. Her stomach, otherwise flat, led down to a very slender waistline, which she was glad it remained so: she did eat a lot of cake, after all. Dragonesses had similar body features for those areas, so that might work in her favor.

But enough of those features: what of her less eye-catching ones, like her hands, or her mouth, or her muzzle? She knew they were delicate and fragile-looking, but ponies with whom she had shaken hands had told her that her fingers were softer than satin. Those, in addition to her less obvious features, were considered attractive for the pony species, but... what if he wished she had claws like a dragoness? What if her large, soft wings, ideal for many forms of foreplay (or so she had heard), were not considered good enough for him? He would hopefully (should he not kill himself over the grief of losing his friends should this plan fail) get his own set of wings. That rather dreadful thought aside, what if he only thought scaly bat-like wings were up to his standards?

What of her rump? She remembered overhearing a dragon ambassador several hundred years ago talking about his mate waiting for him back in the land of the dragons. He had said she had the most splendid set of hindquarters within a hundred leagues, and Celestia had always wondered if that was one of the more "attractive" features of a dragoness. Celestia prided herself on her derriere, one of the few things about her body she was proud to call "fit". Even though she did not exercise like normal ponies, she did not have some large, flabby bag of fat for a backside. No, her rump was toned, though it was a little bigger than a normal mare's. Trailing down form that, her thighs were surprisingly muscular, considering she usually sat on her throne all day or rarely walked when she had to. Maybe it was an inherited trait from her species? She knew zebras had very muscular legs, so maybe alicorns, in the distant past, had run from danger far more than they flew. But then why did she have such large wings? She'd have to ask her parents about that: in their eyes, she was little more than a newly-christened adult alicorn, and she was still uneducated in many of the ways of her kind.

Her calves were plenty slender, and though she hated to admit it, they trailed down to meet rather ticklish hooves. Her pelt, the blazing white that all of Equestria knew by heart, was kept impeccably clean and had not a single blemish upon it. Her horn, standing to proud, regal and tall, was highly sensitive: she had made the mistake of rubbing it once when she felt a fly land on it, and had nearly sent a table through a wall from the resulting burst of uncontrolled magic. If and when Spike decided to go "all the way", as she had heard several castle servants say, she'd have to remind him to not touch it, or else he might get blown right off the island.

The last two things were perhaps the greatest difference between a pony, or alicorn, in her case, and a dragon. Few if any dragons actually had hair of some kind, and their tail was like that of a lizard or crocodile: scales encasing a mass of muscle and bone. Celestia's mane, the envy of countless mares due to its splendorous beauty, was always moving and always filled with vibrant yet gentle colors. Would he be attracted to it, or find it... icky? Wow, she was thinking like a little filly who was just beginning to like colts. And of her tail: she knew he wouldn't be as attracted to it as he would a dragoness. Sure, it was just like her mane, though a bit shorter and less frilly. Would he gaze upon its colors in wonder, or repulsion? Would he find the fact that she did not have a muscular tail be a turn-off that she could not hope to make up for?

Oh, her mind was such a wondrous and terrible place to be: all the good memories, and yet all the doubts that constantly plagued her throughout her incredibly long life. She knew, absolutely knew, that she had to do this, and yet the naive virgin side of her princess mind told her that perhaps it would not be so bad. Of course, every mare she had ever overheard said the first time was rather painful at first, and if it was the stallion's first time, then it was usually short and rather unsatisfying. All those overheard conversations plagued her mind like a curse: what if he couldn't match what her stamina would become? What if he couldn't please her, and through that, be unable to sate her boundless heat? Would the world still die, or would there be a reprieve for the planet once more, or at least, until her next heat cycle? If that did come to pass, what would be done if she forgot about that one as well?

Assuming everypony survived this one, what if she made the same mistake again?


	3. Beleaguered Arrival

Chapter Three

Beleaguered Arrival

The sun, carried on by the spell Celestia had placed on it, had almost completely touched down on the horizon as Spike opened his eyes. Blinking in the early evening light, he rolled back the curtains to see the glimmering of the ocean. It was a first for him, really: he had never laid eyes on water larger than a river or a lake, and to see nothing but vast, powerful waters... he wasn't afraid to admit it scared him a little. He did know how to swim, but in a place that big, he felt like he would be lost forever should he fall in. Who knew what terrible dangers lurked beneath those waves?

A flash through the other curtain-drawn window caught his eye, so he turned away from the sparkling ocean and instead drew back the curtain to see another flash of light, this time brighter than the other one. Blinking, Spike was not sure just exactly what he was seeing. Clouds, dark and menacing, were barreling down on the carriage, almost like they were intent on smashing into it like a herd of buffalo. The winds had considerably picked up, judging by how the carriage was now rocking modestly, compared to not at all before. Another flash of light outside burned an image of an angular, jagged bolt as it arced across the sky. Other than that light, the clouds obscured anything that may lay beyond them: the curtain of rain below them seemed to connect with the ocean as if the storm and the ocean were one single entity.

"A thunderstorm? Out here?" Spike thought, knowing full well the princess and he were sitting in a very electrically conductive vehicle that was going to become very close to those monstrous clouds in a very short amount of time. The metal that held the entire carriage together was like a giant lightning rod, just begging the clouds to strike it. His first thought was to hide under a blanket until it passed, but seeing as he had none, he decided to do the next best thing: wake up Celestia.

Quickly, he leaned over her, but then he hesitated: how does one wake up a princess, especially one like Celestia? Was there a certain, ancient protocol for something such as this? Spike wasn't sure if there was a protocol, and so decided to go for broke. Gently poking her in the back of the shoulder, since she was facing away from him, he whispered, "Celestia? Uh, Celestia, you might want to wake up." He still remembered being raised in the care of Celestia when he had just been hatched by Twilight. She had been and still was a comforting presence, but now... he wasn't sure what he felt around her all these years after leaving her care. Safe and secure, for sure, and maybe a bit confident in himself, but her ethereal glow now made him feel a bit... odd. As if he wanted to say something, but just couldn't.

"Mmm... no... I want a banana smoothie," Celestia whispered, snapping Spike out of his own thoughts. She was clearly still off in a rather odd dream, as everypony knew Celestia loved bananas. "The portals... put the cube on the... pedestal... dammit Luna, stop eating the... glue and crayons." Okay, she was really off in a bizarre dream: what was all that stuff about portals and crayons?

Spike in response to that, poked her more urgently, taking care not to press too hard into her shoulder with his finger. "Celestia! Please, you need to wake up!" He was almost to the verge of shouting, as would anypony in his situation. Even pegasi retreated to shelter when a thunderstorm, especially an uncontrolled and wild one, came into an area.

Turning over mid-poke, Celestia's eyes opened slowly. "What... what is it, Spike? Are we at the island already? It hasn't been thirteen hours already, has it?" Her long nap after the lack of sleep the night before felt incredibly refreshing, though her body was still a bit sluggish to her commands: her hind hooves, or feet, as they were called by dragons, felt all prickly.

"Not... exactly," Spike said, hoping she'd wake up faster now that he somewhat had her attention. It wouldn't do them any good for him to panic in such a small enclosed space, but he was getting rather worried. "You might want to take a look outside like, right now."

Celestia, rubbing her eyes, sat up and looked out the window. After blinking a few times, she simply turned back to Spike. "Fear not, Spike, as we are almost to our destination. Those storm clouds only form this far out to sea if there is land close by. If I remember correctly, the island should be on the opposite side of that storm." She could feel the magic of it pulling her closer, like a small pebble being pulled down the side of a steep hill by gravity's power.

"...what," Spike deadpanned, not noticing how his tail involuntarily curled closer to his body. "But... but aren't we in danger? This carriage is made of metal: highly conductive metal, I might add!" That was true enough: also, they were kind of going to fly right into the middle of the damned storm.

"Yes, but the inside of this carriage is completely lightning-proof: I cast the spell myself many centuries ago, so there is nothing to worry about," the princess said, closing the curtain. The carriage swayed again slightly as another gust of wind buffeted the flying contraption. "I should also like to thank you for listening to what I said earlier and refer to me by my name not my title. We will not be so formal out here, as it won't matter to anypony, especially me. Now, with that out of the way, would you like to know of the island in a bit more detail? Besides Luna and myself, I doubt any other pony, or dragon for that matter, knows of its existence." Somewhat abrupt, but she knew she needed to help him slowly understand what this "quest" would entail. Too fast and he might freak out; too slow and it might be too late for the planet. Oh, curse unfortunate timing and forgotten obligations!

"Well, uh..." Spike began, unsure if now was the best time for storytelling. What would happen if the carriage was struck by lightning? Would the wings be damaged? Would the welds holding much of it together sheer apart from the high winds? "Sure, I guess. You're welcome, by the way, Celestia." He forced his tail to unfurl away from his body, the tip coming to rest alongside Celestia's own wispy one. It wasn't his fault they both had longer tails than most ponies: he was a dragon, and she was an alicorn, after all.

This did not escape Celestia's notice, but unbeknownst to Spike, she inwardly sighed. It was going to be hard to get him what he needed to do. She'd have to take it slow, make it seem real: of course, if it became real, then she might have more problems than she did at the moment. Her heat was upon her: it would build slowly for the remainder of the time, until it came to a peak for several days straight. Then, like a light bulb bursting, it would cease, and if Spike did what he had to do, the crisis would be over. She didn't even want to think of what would happen if he successfully impregnated her.

There she was: getting sidetracked again by her thoughts. Noticing the confused look on Spike's face at her silence, she gently cleared her throat. "This island, like many smaller and isolated ones around the world, was formed by volcanic activity: hot magma coming up from fissures in the planet's crust over many, many years. This one, in particular, is less than three hundred years old."

"It is?" Spike asked as it grew slightly darker in the carriage: they were drawing closer to the storm. "Then, if it's so young and not known by anypony else, then how did you or your sister find it?" Wait, Luna couldn't have found it, as she was still Nightmare Moon and imprisoned on the moon three hundred years ago. Unless... Celestia found it last year after her sister's return?

"It was an accident, really: I was out in this very carriage, flying across the ocean to visit some friends of mine over in Saddle Arabia, when a freak wind blew my carriage off-course. By the time the wind stopped, I found myself over the island. I placed a spell on it so I could remember its location, and so I went on my way." Celestia paused for a moment as the interior of the carriage grew very dark all of a sudden. It was now official that they had passed completely into the storm, with the dark clouds seeming to swallow them up and press in on them from every direction.

A bright flash of light coursed through the clouds outside, temporarily illuminating the interior of the flying carriage with an eerie glow. "I had something... placed in the volcanic mountain. The volcano itself is currently not active, so we shouldn't be in any danger from it." It was a lie and she knew it: there was nothing placed in that volcano by anypony. She felt bad, lying to him like this: it wasn't like she was leaving out something like before. She was actually telling him a lie, something she normally abhorred. But... she had to give him a motive to be there. She couldn't just say "Spike, my heat will destroy the world unless you buck my brains out" or something like that... right?

"Well, I won't be in any danger from the volcano," Spike politely reminded her. "Dragon, remember? I can swim in magma." He paused for a moment, a thought crossing his mind. "This... thing, you mentioned: what exactly is it? Is it some sort of ancient alicorn artifact, like that amulet, or a giant spell amplifier?"

"I would prefer not to say, but it is something akin to... a vessel," Celestia said, the unintended double entendre not lost on her. It was a vessel: her inner vessel, which Spike needed to "pilot". "It needs, as some might say, to be completed. This... vessel, will save us."

"Okay, I guess: what do we need to fill it with?" the dragon asked, completely clueless as to why the princess was acting so... bashful with her explanation. Was it an embarrassing thing to talk about for her?

Before Celestia could blush or respond to that unknowingly sexual question, a bright flash illuminated the carriage, followed by a massive rumble that shook their very teeth. In an instant, a great shake threw the carriage around, sending the two passengers sprawling onto their backs. Their luggage sailed through the air and landed on the opposite sides, narrowly missing both occupants as they did so. The ride was now much rougher, as if they had been...

"Have we been hit?" Spike asked in a loud shout, his ears still ringing from what had sounded like an explosion. For a younger dragon, loud noises were much more severe to their hearing than for an older one. At least noises not made by them: other foreign noises could damage their hearing rather easily.

"I... I don't know: I think so," Celestia responded, her voice barely any louder and yet still enough for Spike's ringing ears to hear. "We're not exactly plummeting out of the sky, so... one of the wings must have been damaged!" That would be a rather unfortunate occurrence: they still needed this contraption to get them all the way to the island. Dropping into the middle of the ocean would be a sure-fire way to get lost and/or die.

"I'll take a look!" Spike shouted back, almost tripping over himself as he got back up and lurched for the window. Peering out, he gazed upon the black clouds around him, the flashing lightning providing all the light his highly sensitive eyes needed. The left-side wing looked like a great crack had formed down the middle, and a few flecks of golden feathers flew off with every flap.

"Yeah," he said, turning back enough so Celestia could see his mouth. "The left wing looks damaged all right: it-,"

He was cut off by another massive burst of light outside the carriage, followed by another rumble that seemed to make their very bones shutter. The carriage lurched again, this time from the right side. Spike tumbled backwards, landing awkwardly on top of Celestia.

"Spike, your spines: they're digging into me," she said into his ear, feeling suddenly rather hot under her collar at the fact he was laying on top of her. No pony or dragon had ever gotten this close to her, and with her heat only twenty or so days away, she was beginning to feel... odd. Were her symptoms and the changes in her they brought already beginning to manifest?

"Sorry your highness," he muttered, rolling onto all fours. He scampered over to the other window and peered out: extending out from the half-way point, the right wing was missing all of its feathers. Instead, all that remained was a thick gold rod tapering to a point, likely the frame that had held it together. Like a damaged tree branch it flapped around in the wind, looking completely scorched.

"Uh oh," he said, turning to look at the princess as she joined him at the window. "That doesn't look good." Mentally, he slapped himself for such an idiotic comment. "Well no shit 'that doesn't look good': half the damn wing is gone!" he thought.

"I agree, Spike: we can't have far to go now, but I fear the wing's damage may be too great to-," the princess began before another bright flash from outside made their eyes sting. Another rumble, not quite as loud, was then accompanied by such a violent thrashing that it was like the carriage was being shaken by a full grown Ursa Major.

Celestia and Spike fell back, with Spike landing on his back. Celestia landed a mere second after him, having spun in midair to try and correct her fall. She landed right on his chest, knocking the wind out of the poor dragon. Well, when you had two massive breasts attached to your chest like she did, it was no wonder Spike suddenly found he was unable to breathe.

"Air," he gasped as Celestia's long flowing mane of hair flew up in his face. Suddenly, the dark world had a bit more color to it: hues of green, pink and blue covered his vision, and unfortunately, his airway. However, Celestia withdrew, aware of how she had landed on him and also aware that she must have been smothering him with her mane.

"I am sorry, Spike," She said, trying to pull him up into a sitting position as he breathed in a gulp of air. "I-,"

Another bright flash and loud crack surrounded them, the carriage twisting again as though punched by some monstrous green giant. As it flipped, Spike felt himself fly forward as Celestia flew backwards, landing on her rump with a slight slapping sound and a tiny "oof". Almost in slow motion, they both watched as Spike's snout fell below her chin and wedged itself firmly into her dress, his face disappearing into the valley between her two breasts. It kept going, until barely his head's spines were poking out of her dress.

"Spike!" Celestia cried out as Spike's own muffled reply was smothered by her pelt and clothes. It was unfortunate for the dragon that he could breathe, but not get himself out. Celestia's gown fit her like a tight glove, and so his face was truly stuck in her heavenly bosom. The lower part of her dress was caught under his chin, tight enough to hold him there but not enough to restrict his airway. Her soft pelt rubbed against his face as he kept wriggling his head side to side in order to try and get free: no such luck, as he was in too deep.

"Oh no, this is bad: so very, very bad," he thought to himself, trying to pull his head free but remaining stuck. He tried to stand up to give himself better leverage, but his legs had become trapped by his clothes bag, and as the carriage rolled again from the high winds outside, he felt weightless for a second. Only, this weightlessness was ended by the fact that the carriage had completely flipped, and with a grimace of pain, he felt himself land on his back, his clothes bag now wedged under him at an odd and uncomfortable angle. Then Celestia's full weight came down on him again, knocking the wind out of him again. His hot breathe came out, sending what looked like a balloon travelling down the inside of her dress and across her belly.

The princess shivered unexpectedly: that had felt... good. Another hot breath washed over her, and she shuddered slightly, suddenly not able to find the exact words to tell Spike to stop. His warm head, stuck inside her heavenly bosom, vibrated slightly every time he grunted and groaned in his efforts to free himself. Then, like he should have done before, the dragon reached up and grabbed the ends of Celestia's breasts and tried to pry them further apart. All he did was squish them more around his head, with Celestia's suddenly sensitive nipples rubbing against his palms.

Celestia, even in her slight state of panic, let out a soft, low moan. Oh wow, that was... unexpected. No, scratch that: it felt great. Her nipples grinding against his palms through her dress's fabric as he somewhat roughly kneaded her large mammaries in an effort to be free: she felt a tingling in her body that she had never felt before. Was this what it was like to be turned on? To feel tingly and hot and filled with shivers and light-headed and-

The carriage lurched again, not from the storm, but by the now-frantic flapping of the remaining bits of the exterior wings. Due to the damaged nature of both, the carriage continually rocked from side to side, and then Celestia felt something strike her rump. "Oh!" she cried, looking back in time to see whatever it was strike her again. It was Spike's long tail, the long spade-shaped end making another loud smacking noise on her toned ass. It hit again, the feeling of her rump bouncing upon impact imparting a strange sensation in her nether regions.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" she cried, trying to muffle them more so as not to alert Spike to exactly what he was hitting. Should she tell him, or should she continue to explore this delightful feeling? It was like feeling a tingling sensation up and down her entire back, starting from right below her skull and ending right where Spike's... magnificent tail was slapping against her. "Spike?" she asked loudly, suppressing the urge to moan again as Spike's tail smacked her in the ass again. Did all mares like this? Or was she just one of those turned on by such an act? "Do... do you need help?"

"Mmmph!" Spike said from within her bosom, nodding his head up and down. This made her breasts bounce slightly around his head, which made it look like he was not stuck and was instead shoving it in and out of her cleavage. Such a thought had an unexpected side-effect for Celestia's body: her nipples hardened further under his palms, sticking into them like eraser buds. The tingles in her body continued, and if Celestia didn't know better she'd say they were greatly increasing in not only intensity, but frequency as well. It was almost like it was building towards something, but towards what, she wasn't sure. Was this the feeling of approaching something what she had heard other mares describe as a "climax"?

"Here, let me help," Celestia said, equal parts of her body and brain screaming to not help him out at all. She forlornly ignored it, and pulling her breasts apart farther than Spike must have been willing to, she watched as his head popped out and fell back onto her small purse.

"Celestia, I am so sorry: please forgive me! I tried, but I got stuck and-," Spike rambled in a hurried apology, only for Celestia's finger to lie across his lips and silence him.

"Spike, it is quite all right: I understand," she said softly as another lurch rolled them again. This time, the carriage rolled right-side up, with Celestia landing on the bottom and Spike haphazardly sprawling on top of her. This sudden change in position had the unintended side effect of squishing Celestia's breasts up and almost out of the fabric completely. In fact, her areolas were making themselves known to the world as their edges poked out, threatening to spill her breasts out completely. Another lurch from the carriage, and they did spill out, pointing towards the sky like two large watermelons. The princess quickly reached up with her hands and shoved them back in before the dragon saw this, shuddering slightly as the hyper-sensitive nipples scraped against the fabric upon reentry. She felt so embarrassed and elated and disappointed, and all at the same time. Maybe she should have left them out for him to see? Starting from there might have made things a whole lot easier for them to progress from.

That and something rather... big, was pressing through fabric against the lower part of her dress, right above where her... special area was. She glanced down as Spike shook the dizziness from his head, his eyes thankfully closed during her exposure. That large bump she was feeling must have been his...

"Oh," she whispered, her eyes widening at the realization. For her to feel something like that, through two sets of clothes it had to be... quite impressive in size. She did remember reading a book on dragon biology that stated different species of dragons had one or two... members, with the two-membered species usually having smaller ones. This... this didn't feel like two, and for a second, she also remembered the single... membered ones had something a bit special about their own. It was something the author had gone into great detail about, as the author had been a mare and she had had a dragon for a lover. But for the long life of Celestia, once more, she could not recall exactly what that "special addition" had been.

Spike shook his head again and rolled off of the princess, muttering a "sorry" as he lay on his back next to her, feeling as though his eyes were rolling around in their sockets. No, scratch that: it felt like they were cut loose from their bonds and were threatening to roll out of his skull should he open his eyes. "I thought you said this thing was lightning-proofed," he moaned, rubbing his shoulder from where he had landed on something hard.

"The carriage itself, inside and out, is," Celestia said, the tingling in her body slowly dissipating. Odd: she was missing it already, and though her heat was only barely beginning to start building up, she could already tell she would like to do that a whole lot more. "The wings were not proofed, as... I never took the carriage through... a thunderstorm." Her panting was not from fear, but from a slowly dissolving sense of elation. She had been building up to something, and was now coming to realize just how long she had been holding her breath during the act.

"Yes, probably... a bad idea, when you think of it," Spike said, gasping for his breathe once more. It was like every time he landed, he was either squished by something or landed on something hard. Right now, he had rolled over onto both his clothes bag and Celestia's purse. What had his tail been slapping against while his head was stuck in her... royal milk makers? Whatever it had been, it was firm, and yet strangely... smooth. Dragon tails were sensitive, after all, and he could still feel the softness beneath his spade-shaped end.

Outside, the darkness dissipated a bit, even though rain lashed against the window as it had been for the entirety of their time in the storm. The large droplets looked more like hail, save for fact they splattered instead of shattered against the windows. The lurching of the carriage was still pretty bad, but Spike got up to look outside once more...

Only for another lurch to smash his face into the side of the window. "Ow," he muttered, steadying himself to get a better look. Strange: the clouds themselves were still black, but they seemed to be... moving away. Rushing back to the other window, Spike looked down and saw a glittering ocean below. Well, except for one rather large splotch somewhat in the middle. It curved upwards like a giant fang, with some more of it spread out low around it like a plate.

"Celestia?" Spike asked, motioning for her to come by the window. "Is that the island?"

Celestia picked herself up, set her crown back into place (it somehow having stayed on her head during the struggle), and crawled over to Spike's side. "Yes, Spike: that is indeed the island," she said, smiling. "We're almost there. We should-,"

She was cut off by a sudden tearing noise outside of the carriage: it was not fabric, but metal. Looking out in horror, the pair saw the left-side wing drop away from the carriage entirely, flecks of gold trailing after it. A small gust of wind, the last gift from the thunderstorm, struck the underside of the remaining wing: this immediately sent the carriage into a shallow dive, spinning out of control as it did so.

"This is why I don't like flying!" Spike shouted as he tumbled around the interior of the carriage, bumping himself against everything and Celestia. "Or at least, not in a thunderstorm!"

Celestia, even as she tumbled, found Spike's shout to be rather... comical: or at least, what he had said was comical. As it was, partly to relieve stress and to just laugh, she giggled. This drew Spike's attention, as he grabbed onto a surface and pulled himself close so as to not just keep flying around the interior.

"Why are you laughing?" he cried out as he ducked, his actions saving him from having the princess's purse land squarely in his face. "Can't you see we're gonna crash? It-,"

He was stopped by something round, soft and tightly bound sucker-punching him right in the face, sending him tumbling once more. It had been her rear, and Celestia only laughed harder at the impact. Why was she so giddy all of a sudden? Were the feelings she had felt during their... close time together messing with her head?

"Celestia!" Spike cried out once more, his arms flailing about as they spun. "We need to get out of here! Can't you just-,"

He was cut off as his hand, flailing around, enclosed itself on her horn. In an instant, Celestia's eyes went wide, her nostrils flared, and a bright beam of magic shot forth from her horn like an explosion. The carriage top burst open, and Spike went sailing out, his hand slipping off of the alicorn's horn.

"SON OF A BIIIIITT-," he cried out, his voice trailing off as he fell away from the carriage. A small bit of the carriage top caught him in the tail, violently spinning him around for a few seconds. As his uncontrollable tumbling finally smoothed out, he used his arms to spin himself around in mid-air. He was able to just notice how close the island was below him before a bright white figure slammed into him, arms grasping around his chest from behind. Large white wings flared open, capturing the wind and slowly decreasing their speed. Spike looked up in shock to see Celestia holding him aloft, her wings starting to beat to keep them from tumbling down.

"Spike, before you thank me," Celestia shouted, a grunt interrupting her sentence. "You should know something."

"What?" Spike shouted back, noticing a slight trail of smoke from the carriage. It seemed as though Celestia's magical explosion had set the interior of the carriage on fire.

"We're still going to hit the ground hard, so I'm going to try and land us in that river," she said, nodding in the direction as they fell. "It's going to sting if we hit at the same time, so... please forgive me."

Spike looked down and indeed, there was a river less than a hundred feet below them. It was not terribly wide, but seeing as it was close to the beach, it was most likely slow-moving. It wouldn't be any better for them to escape a fall from this height, only to die by hitting boulders or being swept away by a powerful current.

Wait, why had she asked for him to forgive her? "Celestia, what are you- AAH!" Spike shouted as he felt the hands slip from around him, his body separating from Celestia' by a few feet. It might have been miles for all he cared: in less time than he would have liked, he impacted the water like a rock, sending a fountain of water high into the air behind him. Celestia landed right where he had, the cold water washing over her suddenly-exhausted body. That explosive spell must have taken a lot out of her, since her wings suddenly refused to beat under the water.

The area, silent after the splash, was soon interrupted by the sound of a dragon bursting forth from the water, roaring in surprise and anger. "What in the name of Tartarus did you do that for, Celestia?!" he cried out, looking around for the princess as he treaded water. The somewhat murky liquid started to foam around him from his arms and legs thrashing to keep him above the water. Strangely, the princess was not there with him: she was not floating, nor was she on the shore, and she wasn't hovering above him...

Spike's anger imploded as a sudden realization came over him: she hadn't come up from under the water like he had! Looking around, Spike dunked himself under and peered through the gloom, searching for the princess. She couldn't have gotten anywhere in a hurry: the water was barely moving at all, and-

"There!" Spike thought, seeing a wisp of colored mane floating up from the bottom. Swimming down and over, he followed it until he found Celestia. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth... was open.

"Shit! She's drowning!" Spike thought, sweeping her up in his arms and pushing off the bottom. Though the princess's wings dragged them down, they soon broke the surface of the slow-moving river. Spike, treading water as best as he could with Celestia's weight adding to his own, swam towards the shore, the sands luckily forming a gradual slope. With Celestia held under his arms, Spike rushed out, looking entirely like a lifeguard on television who had just rescued a drowning mare. Only in this case, it was real: he set her down on the beach and tilted his head by her mouth. He heard a slight gargle, and tried to remember what to do next.

"Chest compression?" he thought hurriedly, unsure of himself at the moment. He went for broke and roughly pushed down on the princess's chest, the force expelling some water from her lungs. Another pump, more water, all the while her breasts flopped about in her soaking wet dress. Her wings were soaked and slowly leaking water from the soft feathers, sand coating the backs of them as they were spread out behind her like a fallen eagle's.

It was like it wasn't even working! He felt she still had a pulse, but why wouldn't she wake up? "Come on, princess! Wake up!" Spike shouted, going down and breathing into her lungs, his mouth covering hers as his fingers pinched her nose shut. He could not smell any vomit on her, so she hadn't thrown up or anything while unconscious. Two short breaths were right, but had he given enough air in each? He gave another chest compression, ignoring how the wet dress clung to her body. "Breathe, dammit!" he shouted.

Then, on the fourth pump, Celestia's eyes shot open as more water spewed from her mouth. Coughing and retching, Spike gently turned her over onto her side, helping to expel the rest of the water from her lungs. He held her in place, knowing full well she'd only hurt herself if she tried to do anything but expel the water. As an afterthought, he gently patted her on the back, not to help expel water, but to try and reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

It was one of those rare times that Spike was thankful for Twilight's pushy attitude towards certain things. He had been going to the pool a year back and had seen a colt almost drown there. Twilight, upon hearing this, forced him to enroll in a lifeguard class. He learned everything to do with lifeguarding, and had thankfully never needed to use his skills back at home. But out here? He had just saved Princess Celestia's life.

After sitting with her for a short while, Spike saw she had finished dry-heaving and had started breathing normally. "Celestia? Are you okay?" Spike asked, looking down from behind her.

"Yes, Spike, I'm," -another cough- "fine," she said, groaning slightly at the pain in her wings. They had slapped onto the water behind her: they weren't broken or anything, but they sure hurt like Tartarus. "How... how did I end up here?"

"I carried you out of the river," Spike said simply, wiping his nose on his soaking shirt. "You, uh... you weren't breathing, so I began rescue breaths and chest compressions."

"Rescue breaths? Chest compressions?" Celestia repeated softly, her free hand coming up to wipe away the larger droplets of water still on her soaking-wet face. "Where... where did you learn to do that?"

"At the Ponyville YPCA," Spike said, referring to the Young Ponies Center for Athletics. "Twilight made me take a lifeguard course there last year."

"Did she now?" Celestia said, lifting her head to slide her free hand onto her arm. She laid it back down, making somewhat of a makeshift pillow. "Why... why did she do that?" She let out another small cough, but it sounded like there was no more water. It did sound like something her student would do, and she couldn't have been more grateful that Twilight had done such a thing.

"She heard about a colt that almost drowned there, and so wanted me to be able to help, should the need arise," Spike said, sneezing a bit: that water hadn't exactly been warm. He had just gotten some in his nose was all. Hopefully he wouldn't coming down with anything, and if he did, then how would he help her with the... quest?.

Celestia was quiet for a minute or two, enjoying the feeling of oxygen freely returning to her lungs. She had felt the water enter her lungs, felt her mind start to slip away... and then strong hands lifting her up, the pale light of the sunset suddenly shining through her eyelids. She had almost died, yet... Spike had been able to save her. Spike had saved her life.

Slowly sitting up and rubbing her shoulders, Celestia looked at Spike. "Thank you, Spike," she said softly, trying not to notice how the wet clothes clung to his body. "Thank you... for saving my life."

"Of course, Celestia," Spike said, rising to his feet. "Just... take my hand."

Slowly, Celestia did, marveling at the surprising softness of the scaled appendage. Letting Spike raise her to her hind hooves, she felt her knees give out after a few short seconds. Spike thankfully caught her, and supporting her on his shoulder, he walked with her towards a tower of smoke on the other side of a sand dune.

Passing through a patch of thick grass on the crest of the dune, Celestia found herself looking upon the shattered remains of her flying chariot. It was bend, twisted, entirely wrecked: the rest of it was on fire, and judging from the smell of the smoke, all of their clothes had gone up in the blaze. Pieces from the remaining were scattered everywhere, and off in the distance, the other wing stood straight out of the ground, like some macabre sign showing how close they had just come to death.

Suddenly, there was a bright spark, and a shimmer surrounded the immediate area of the carriage. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished, the wreck collapsing in on itself like a burning building.

"What was that?" Spike asked, looking at Celestia as they walked towards the crash site.

"That was a spell dying, Spike," the princess said. "I fear our way home is, for the moment, not available." A small burst of flame followed by a minute billowing of black smoke followed her words. "I think that might have been my purse, as your clothes likely fell somewhere out in the ocean."

"So we're stranded here, without spare clothes?" Spike asked as he led the both of them down the sand dune, going slow so that they would not fall. "I'm gonna be stranded on a deserted island with the princess, and if our clothes become too damaged, we'll eventually be naked," he thought, sarcasm apparent in his head. A naked Celestia? While he did find her attractive, what was he going to do? Avert his eyes every time she was in front of him? Fashion her some clothes out of the local vegetation?

"In a sense, yes," Celestia said. "But this is the island we need to be on, and tomorrow we'll start making our way towards to mountain." As she said this, she pointed weakly at the volcano: it seemed to stretch much higher into the sky than it had appeared from up in the clouds.

"So... what do we do now?" Spike asked, looking around for some form of shelter. There were no caves on the shoreline, and there was no driftwood to make a makeshift shelter. The sun had completely slipped below the horizon: just how long had they been up in that storm? The stars were coming out and the gloom of night was descending upon them like a blanket.

Celestia pointed over to a cluster of trees, their vegetation making them look almost like a shack on a tropical beach far to the south. "For now, we need to take shelter under there. We shouldn't start a fire, either: we don't have to worry about any animals attacking us, but it might attract mosquitos or similar insects, and a lot of this grass is too dangerously dry." They'd be at least mostly protected from wind, anyway: any real breeze from the ocean would chill her to the bone.

"What about you? It's gonna get cold tonight," Spike said, seeing how the princess shivered slightly. Her pelt was not thick like an alpaca's: it was not meant to hold in heat, and she was going to freeze as the island lost heat during the night. The interior would likely stay much warmer, but out here along the coast they were particularly susceptible to winds and any more possible rain. It didn't help that their clothes were still retaining water and would likely not dry for a few more hours. He glanced down at his wrist: wow, his bracelet from his friends was still there, twinkling in the sun's dying rays.

"Well... since the best way to care for someone as wet as I am is to keep them warm, you'll just have to cuddle up next to me," Celestia said with a straight face, smiling slightly on the inside, but showing no sign of her feelings to Spike. "You'll be warm enough, I think: you dragons, from what I've heard, are like great furnaces all by yourselves." This wasn't some ploy to eventually get him to mate her when her heat fully arrived: she actually needed him to do this. She was weak from her near-death experience, and as such, she couldn't just instantly dry herself out with magic or make them a shelter in an instant.

This somewhat threw Spike for a loop: she was being serious all right, and she was right, but for some reason, Spike felt as though she were... being friendly. Friendlier than usual, or ever, really: how often did the princess of the sun ask anypony to cuddle up next to her? How many ponies, regardless of gender, would kill to be in his position, getting to snuggle up to their ruler like a friend or... lover?

In a few short minutes they reached the cluster of tropical trees and kneeled down, the ground thankfully soft due to the thick patches of long grass and piles of sand. Laying down first with help from Spike, Celestia rolled onto her side and gently pulled the dragon down next to her. Spike, not exactly sure why, did as she "subtly" suggested and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly to him to keep her warm. He then laid his tail across her legs, hopefully keeping them warm: she had curled them up closer to them, so that her knees were touching his.

Celestia, doing her part, scooted one wing under their heads like a pillow and the other she used to mostly cover the pair of them like a large, soft blanket. She was still a bit wet, but Spike was giving off more than enough heat to help speed up the process of her drying out. She saw through her suddenly-sleepy eyes that Spike's own eyes had already closed, and he was beginning to snore softly. The train-wreck of an arrival had taken a lot out of the dragon and herself: they were lucky to have survived that.

"Welcome to the island, Spike," Celestia said, gladly embracing his warmth as she too drifted off into dreamland. Around them, the slight breeze of the thunderstorm's aftermath carried with it the smell of wet plants and the promise of a calm night. High above, a few clouds parted, causing the light of the moon shone down upon them. Its embrace was a comforting one to the two stranded creatures, since they were so far from home and now had no real way to get back, should their problem sort itself out in the end.


	4. An Evolving Journey and Destination

Chapter Four

An Evolving Journey and Destination

The rolling of the waves along a gradual ocean shoreline is a comforting noise, especially when one is tired. It can extend the time one sleeps, as it not only is a comforting noise, but the slight vibrations it imparts on the shores can be downright heavenly to a sore, aching body. It was to the sound of these rolling waves that Celestia awoke, stretching her body as she did so. As the princess continued to become more alert to her surroundings, her mind quickly noted several things at once.

One, Spike was still fast asleep, curled up tightly against her body like when they had lain down. His latent heat still radiated off his body in waves, rising and falling in sync with his chest. Two, her clothes and pelt were dry, thanks to the dragon's innate heat-exuding properties. If he hadn't been one, she might have gotten sick overnight from the chills that would have undoubtedly overtaken her. Three, and perhaps most important, the sun had risen and was slowly making its way entirely out from behind the horizon. The spell she had placed on it to continue its path regardless of her mental state was still working, it seemed. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, as if the thunderstorm that had passed through the day before was nothing but a mere memory.

Groaning softly as her body protested her movement, Celestia slowly sat up, Spike's embrace falling away as she did so. It was already becoming warm once more, but since this island was at far more northerly latitudes than the islands near the Equator, it was not going to become unbearably hot. What mattered to her was not their current situation, but how long it would take for the both of them to leave the coast and journey up to the dormant volcano. She remembered there was a small lake up there, and from above, even whilst falling, she could see greenery around it. If their luck held, there would be food up there for them: or, at least for her. She knew Spike could eat pretty much anything if he had to, and on this island, there wasn't much in the way of diverse foodstuffs. Grasses of kinds, maybe a few fruit trees of some kinds, and if Spike was lucky, some jewels.

Celestia turned and looked down at Spike, his expression so peaceful for one who could have died the day before. Any other pony wouldn't have slept a wink that night, but then again, Spike was no pony, and it showed. In many ways, he was stronger than he let on: his many adventures with his friends was proof enough of that. Softly, almost in a tender way, she stroked the side of his cheek. "Spike," she whispered, leaning over slightly so her lips were closer to his ear. "Spike, it's time to wake up."

"Mmm... okay," the dragon whispered, rolling over but not sitting up. He reached up with his hands and rubbed his face: likely his eyes, as Celestia couldn't quite see from her angle. It was slightly reminiscent of when a foal would wake up and rub their eyes in an exaggerated manner. "What... what happened?"

"Nothing has happened, Spike," Celestia said, watching as he slowly sat up. "At least, nothing that hadn't already happened to us the day before: we're still stranded on the island."

"Ugh, my head," the dragon muttered, his eyes opening as his hands went to rub his temples. "I feel like I just sat through another one of Twilight's math lectures."

Celestia smiled and let loose a small laugh. "Ah, yes: I have heard from your friends on how she disagrees with many on the number pi. She, if I remember correctly, "thinks pi is a repeating number, but we just haven't reached the repeating part yet," or something along those lines."

"Yeah, she went through a severe pi phase a few months back," Spike said, smiling a little at the memory himself. "They say the great forests of the North were permanently altered by her demand for parchment so she could write down all of the number and look for patterns."

"Twilight does have an unusual devotion to her studies, though I suppose this is not necessarily a bad thing," the princess said, rising up and motioning for Spike to do the same. "Come now, Spike: we must make our way to the mountain. It will be a long way up, and I should like to have made some significant progress by nightfall. It will take us at least two or three days to reach where we need to be."

"But... this island is so small," Spike said, confusion filtering through his tone as he took a step in front of her. "Why in the world would it take us that long to get where we need to go?"

"Spike, you forget: we have to climb that mountain, and we have no tools with which to do so," Celestia said, nodding in the mountain's direction. "That, and the easiest way up the slope is a long, winding path where the last lava flow was. It'll be rather sharp, I might add, so we'll have to go very slow."

"But... couldn't you fly us up there?" Spike asked, arching an eyebrow in disbelief. "I mean... you do have wings."

Celestia's wings fluttered weakly behind her, a small flash of pain gracing her otherwise calm face. "My wings are hurt, Spike: more than I can say for certain. That fall in the water must have sprained them somewhat, as it does hurt to move them too fast or too far in any direction." This was no lie: she actually couldn't fly, and if she tried to, she'd only end up hurting herself even more. "Plus, even if my wings were not so sprained, I would be unable to support your weight ad mine, and I am not leaving you behind."

"Oh, well, thank you, I guess," Spike said softly. "Sorry about your wings, though. I know what it's like not being able to fly." His own lack of wings made him at times feel rather inadequate or incomplete, like something important was missing from his life.

"It is all right, Spike. I understand your concern, but fret not; my strength should return in a few days," the princess said, kindly laying a hand on his shoulder and giving him a light squeeze. "But until then, it seems neither of us are going to be soaring in the air." She didn't fly that often, but she did enjoy the feeling; it was liberating, to be honest.

"Okay, so flying is out," the dragon said, taking another step forward as if to help jog his memory, the princess's hand falling from his shoulder. "What about your magic? Couldn't you just, I don't know, teleport us up there? Or maybe make us some spare clothes out of the stuff here on the coast?"

A few sparks shot forth from Celestia's horn, but nothing happened. "I... I don't think I can use my magic to a degree such as that," the alicorn said. "I... I feel as though my wells of magic have been exhausted. I already put a lot of power into the spell to keep the sun rotating as normal, and with that last bit you accidentally released while we were falling... I'm afraid I won't be able to do much magic. This island has a natural magic distortion, so it will take even longer for my magic to come back than it normally would." Wow, she went from a goddess to hopeless in one night: she felt so embarrassed and just plain useless.

"I'm... sorry," Spike said, coming to a rather harsh realization. Alicorns and unicorns depended on their magic for their livelihoods and day-to-day problems as often as a pegasus depended on their wings for, well, everything. To not be able to use a very integral part of their being must have been weighing very heavily on her conscious. He'd have to pay more attention to her, should she become depressed in the meantime.

"It is all right," Celestia said again, her hand returning to his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I am still completely capable of getting around without the use of magic or my wings. It would undoubtedly be easier to do so with them, but fate has dealt me a rather crippling blow for the moment. So, like any princess, I must rise up to the challenge and deal with this the best I can." Wow, she sounded so inspirational when she said that.

Spike sighed: both of those options were now officially gone. "Well, if magic and flying are both not possible, then we'll just have to hoof it," he said, glancing around. The jungles that covered much of the island's lower interior seemed rather thick, and it appeared as though they gave way to large fields of grasses higher up in the numerous hills around the base. Off in the distance, along the west side, a stream of water fell from a crag in the rock: likely a tributary to the river he had saved the princess from yesterday. "What way should we take, though? I've never been here before."

"If my memory serves me right, those grassy hills will give way to the old lava flow I was telling you about," Celestia said, pointing to help Spike follow what she was seeing. "After that we'll make our way up, and near the top of the volcano will be several caves and a small lake. I remember there being a vibrant, bountiful forest up there the last time I was here. It should give us many of the tools we'll need."

"To complete the vessel?" Spike asked as the two of them stepped forward in unison. "The vessel that will save the world?" Somehow he doubted wood of any kind would be able to stand up to a coronal mass ejection, but with Celestia's magic (if it returned), anything was possible... right? Or maybe it was buried somewhere in the volcano and needed a completely lava-proof being to retrieve it?

"No, not exactly," Celestia said as the pair entered the outer limits of the jungle. Already the temperature increased by nearly a dozen degrees and the undergrowth quickly became much denser. "I meant it'll provide us the tools to survive until the time when we can save the world. We still have a little more than two weeks until that day arrives, and in that time it would be a horrible thing for us to grow weak. Whether from lack of food or water, we cannot let ourselves slack off. Spike, the world is depending on us. This is a task we must complete, ad so we must not let ourselves falter on this journey."

"Yeah, I guess that makes more sense," the dragon said, ducking under a low-lying tree branch. "Should I go first, or would you like to, as you know the way?"

"It would be better for you to go before me, Spike," the princess said, stepping gingerly over a rotting log. "Your sharp claws could help clear a path, as we don't exactly have any shears or machetes." That and her own magic wasn't working well enough for her to just move everything out of the way.

"Well, okay, but you might want to stand back," Spike said, letting a bit of his more draconian ancestry take over his body. "I don't want a swinging branch to catch you in one of your hurt wings." In a few short seconds, his talons extended a few inches, more than long enough to cut through the thick undergrowth. With a slicing motion Spike cut through a large swath of tall ferns, the greenery tumbling to the ground at his feet.

Celestia stayed behind Spike as he moved forward, cutting a large path through the thick brush and tall grasses. He looked, from behind at least, like a gentlecolt explorer, similar to the ones from the exploratory days of old when ponies were spreading to other continents. After he was about ten or so feet ahead, Celestia began to slowly walk behind him, making sure to stay the same approximate distance away. She didn't want to be caught by a swinging branch or one of his swipes, after all.

As Spike slashed through the undergrowth, his mind drifted away from the task at hand and roamed back to what had happened the day before. More specifically, what had happened before, during and after that thunderstorm. It was rather strange, that Celestia had chosen to just let the carriage fly through that large gathering of unfriendly clouds: perhaps she had simply thought they would be perfectly safe?

"Well, now we know just how safe we really were," Spike thought to himself, slicing through a cluster of vines that hung down from the uppermost branches of a few trees. "I think that's the first time I've seen Celestia be wrong in a dangerous situation. I mean, she was defeated by Chrysalis since that changeling was so hopped-up on Shining Armor's love, but... why did she say we'd be safe? Was she not concerned at all for us, or was she simply thinking that if she was there, then both of us would be fine?" It was not like him to doubt the princess, and as much as he didn't want to, he had a small well of doubt build up in the pit of his stomach.

He sighed as he ducked under a branch that was far too thick for him to slice through. Speaking of being up there, he felt terrible for what he had done when he had gotten "stuck" in her... wow, he couldn't even think it to himself in the correct terms. Okay, when he was... stuck, he had tried almost everything to pry himself out of her, and yet she had apparently freed him without much difficulty. She had told him it was okay when he tried to apologize, but Spike wasn't so sure that was the case. Seriously, how many beings ever got to feel up Celestia in the ways he had done? Head stuck between her soft, cushiony breasts, his hands fondling those orbs as her nipples poked into his palms through the fabric, the-

"Dammit Spike, you can't be thinking like that," the dragon whispered to himself, mentally trying to shut down that train of thought. It would do him no good out here to be thinking of the princess like that, and yet... his brain rebelled against his control. He could still feel her body shudder around him when his hot breathe traveled down her dress: he could still hear her stifled moans when his tail slapped against her posterior. And oh, what a glorious posterior it had been: even though he had never truly fondled or slapped one before in his entire life, Spike could tell that Celestia had an ass that put many others to shame. It was round yet firm: it neither sagged nor bounced without a strong input of force, and even under that dress, his sensitive tail could tell it was soft. Soft like the finest silks, and smoother than the velvet dress-shirt Twilight had made him wear to a fancy ball the year before.

It was an amazing ass, an ass worthy of song: it was glori-ass.

But the more he tried to tell his brain to shut the Tartarus up and think of something else, the more he thought back to the princess and the way she had lain with him. Her body, cold from the watery grave she had so narrowly escaped (with help from him, he reminded himself), had curled into his without effort or difficulty. They fit perfectly together when entangled in the manner they had been the night before, and Spike had felt the beating of her heart, even in sleep, in tune with his own. He had never imagined the sound an alicorn's heart would make, and Celestia's was nothing like a frantic pounding of a scared pony. No, it was more like... the steady beating of a drum. Slow, measured, filled with potential power and a purpose that few others could hope to understand, if not explain. It was the heartbeat of one who had seen much in their life and would likely see much more.

Spike had no idea why it was so alluring to him. Perhaps a long-lived species such as him found comfort in the arms of one who could match or surpass his longevity?

Then he remembered, against his will, the feeling of her body against his own. The softness of her pelt, the delicate arms that intertwined with his own sometime during the night, her subtly powerful legs protected by the weight of his tail: it was maddening. He had always thought her attractive, as one would a relative or even a friend, but now... now he wasn't so sure. One of her hands had interlaced with his, and although he had only awoken for a few minutes during the night, it had been enough to startle him. He had never known anypony like a princess, especially Celestia, to be so... intimate. He hated using that word, and what it implied made him want to hide from her, but it was nonetheless a true statement. Celestia always slept alone in her quarters, as all of Equestria knew, but Spike had never expected her to be a cuddler.

The more he tried to think of other, non-Celestia things, the more he noticed just how beautiful she was. She was skinny, but not in a starved sense: enough to be slim but with still enough "meat" on her bones to have an actual figure. Spike had seen the models in Rarity's fashion magazines: thin stick-figures without a single redeeming feature. The princess did have a svelte waistline, but unlike those "models", it was not that way from starvation and negative-calorie consumption. It was defined, toned to the highest degree by a combination of what must have been working out and a disposition for a higher metabolism. She did have a large amount of cakes and other sweets in her diet, and yet none of it showed on her body. Her hips came down from her glorious behind and were of the kind that made his knees go ever-so-slightly weak. That, combined with her lithe legs, made his mouth involuntarily water slightly; an action that both disgusted and slightly intrigued him.

Celestia was the package deal: a knockout body, a gorgeous face, a pelt, tail and mane that would make any red-blooded stallion cry, and a kind disposition that would leave any other stallion crying "I am not worthy to be near you!" or something. Spike felt horrible thinking about her like this. If he hadn't been looking away from her, he would have felt like he was undressing her with his eyes like some lecherous lowlife. Wrestling away how he thought of her soft, beautiful wings, he concentrated on cutting through the foliage, doubling his efforts to hold back his imagination.

However, the dragon was not having the only thoughts like these. Celestia herself, though used to being in front of many a group, couldn't help but look over Spike as he cut through the undergrowth in front of her. The way his tail swayed from side to side behind like a snake preparing to strike, the way his shirt bunched around his shoulders as he swung his arms left and right to clear a path.

The princess couldn't have been more thankful to the dragon for saving her life the night before, but there was something she found herself even more grateful for. She had been alone much of her life, in the intimate way, anyway. She had never known a lover's caress, a warm body sleeping next to her own, and yet last night, Spike had showed her the latter without a single word of protest. He had never left her side that night, his body entangled in hers in ways that still brought a pleasurable chill to her body. Celestia was not one for wasted emotions, as everything she did she did out of the goodness of her heart and for others, but right now she wanted nothing more than to lay next to him again, if only to recapture the feeling she had had the night before.

This dragon had been destined for this "assignment", as no other being so perfectly suited her needs. He was more than just brave, having volunteered for this without much protest or indignation. He was kind, he was funny, he was brave when he needed to be and gentle all of the time. He would be able to take in stride what she would eventually dish out, and if properly nudged, would respond in kind to her "advances". He had given her his complete trust, something she knew she was going to break in less than three weeks. But right now, she wasn't thinking of his trust, nor his cute behind, nor the oddly arousing and intoxicating smell that came off of him in waves.

No, she was thinking about how he was going to make her into a proper mare. Surely that Rarity friend of his had given him some "friendly" affection, right? He was a very fine specimen of the dragon race, and his looks had only skyrocketed from when he was a cute youngster. That strong chin, that trim and yet strong body, those hands that had so delicately and yet roughly (accidentally as well) fondled her in the carriage as they went through the storm. His height was attractive, to Celestia anyways, and his spines were somehow intriguing as well.

It was in during this train of thought that the princess forgot to look where she was going, and as such, part of her dress caught on a large thorn bush. She almost fell when her momentum was halted by the gnarled, thorny branches, and so she stopped and tried to tug her dress out of the plant. It remained stuck fast, and she turned to Spike. "Spike?" she called. He didn't respond, as he must have been off in his own little world. "Spike?" she called again with a more urgent tone in her voice. Again, no response, as the dragon was obviously either focusing on the task at hand or deep in thought.

Seeing as how calling to Spike wasn't producing any results, Celestia turned back and tried to maneuver the dress out with her hands. That failed in a rather spectacular way, as she continuously poked her fingers and palms on the sharp thorns. Accepting she couldn't maneuver it out, she resorted to pulling at it again. The more she pulled gently, the more it seemed to entangle itself within the woody plant.

Sighing in defeat, she just pulled as hard as she could, and suddenly she was free. Of course, that freedom had come at a price, judging from the great tearing sound that accompanied it. Looking down, Celestia saw the bottom portion of her dress had torn away, the rest now only extending down to an inch past her knees. Her legs were open to the warm, moist air and she felt a sudden small breeze flitter under her, gracing the previously-hidden pelt like a soft caress.

This made her at least a little angry, as many of the finest designers in Equestria had fretted over and hand-stitched this dress to fit her form perfectly. A brave and lucky few, both stallion and mare, had gotten to see her put it on, and they had all been sworn to secrecy. It had been made of some of the finest materials she could buy with her own (rather extensive) fortune, and so it was rather understandable that she was at least a little peeved it ripped.

Shuddering slightly from the small amount of anger and the breeze flittering across her lower legs, Celestia rushed to catch up to Spike, who had stopped for some reason of his own. When she drew nearer, she saw he had somehow gotten both arms stuck in the same kinds of thorn bushes as she had, though these were much taller. With two equally ferocious-sounding tearing noises, Spike tore his sleeves off his shirt, exposing his scaly biceps for the princess to see.

Since when did Spike work out? At least, that was Celestia's first thought when she saw the bulging muscle. It was not massive, like those she had seen on Applejack's brother when she had visited the family farm during the Sisterhooves Social two years previously. Yet, they were nothing to scoff at: perhaps all that time helping Applejack on the farm during Big Mac's sickness last year had really paid off. Or maybe it was hauling around all that birdseed for Fluttershy's menagerie of birds, or helping Pinkie Pie haul cooking ingredients into Sugarcube Corner? Whatever the case, they looked very firm, like there were solid bricks sewn beneath his scales. She trailed down his back as he pushed through the undergrowth, wondering just what else he could be hiding under all his clothes.

Once again, her inattentiveness gave way to slight disaster, and after another fierce toggle with some thorn bushes, she caught up to Spike, minus the sleeves her dress had previously had. However, unlike her gown, she had managed to save the fabric after it ripped off, so perhaps she could use it for something later.

"Spike, why did you stop?" she asked, almost bumping into him after she went around a corner in the cleared-out path.

"You might want to see this for yourself," the dragon said, pointing in front of him. Celestia walked up beside him, peered through the underbrush, and gasped.

The thorn bushes they had been dealing with were nothing compared to what lay before them. A wall of thorns, at least twenty feet high, lay before them, and no matter which way they looked, it seemed to stretch on forever and ever. They grew thick in a matted series of knots that looks more like some defensive barricade than a living group of plants. It was an obstacle neither of them had expected.

"So, what do we do about this?" Spike asked, glancing at the princess as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I... I don't know. I'll need to think for a bit," Celestia said softly, looking around. Spotting an old stump, she gently walked over and sat down, putting her head in her hands. She needed to think of something, anything, to get them over those thorns. Having Spike set them on fire was far too risky: what if the entire island burst into flame? Plus he may have been fireproof, but she surely was not, and the only place she would be safe from the fire in their current location was the river. That, in and of itself, presented a health risk: she could get hypothermia, or her clothes could shrink and she'd get a terrible rash, or perhaps there were a few sharks that swam up the river? The outermost part did flow out into what looked like a marsh-like mangrove swamp, and Celestia knew from her biology books that quite a few shark species had their babies there.

No, they could not burn the wall: Celestia would be put in terrible danger, and Spike would have much more trouble trying to get through it. Plus, he'd have to clear a path wide enough for her to not be skewered, and if he did that, he'd be dead tired by the time they reached the other side. Even worse, they didn't know just how thick this wall of thorns was: was it a hundred feet thick, or only fifteen?

Oh, it was so hard to think clearly when she was like this! Her body was not up to its usual standards of use, her magic was fluctuating with the island's, her mind was still frazzled from a brush with death, and perhaps least helpful was the fact she could feel her heat beginning. It started off subtle at the very beginning of it all, and every day it would build slowly until it reached its peak. The first thing to go would be a rational sense of thought and apparent intelligence, to aid in the acquiring of a mate. Intelligence more often intimidated the opposite sex when one was a female, which was possibly a reason why Twilight rarely if ever went on dates.

While Celestia was thinking to herself, Spike leaned against the wall of giant thorns, not caring if they poked through or tore into his shirt. It was just a shirt, not something valuable, after all. As an afterthought, he retracted his talons a bit, so they were no longer than when he had woken up. Looking back and remembering the path he had constructed, he tried to calculate just how far they had gone. A half mile? Two-thirds of a mile, maybe? The island itself had to be several miles across, and he knew they were not far from the coast at all if that was the case.

It was just so hard to tell just how far they had gone. His path, while never very twisting in nature, was likely quite a bit longer than if they had somehow managed to make a completely straight one. Adding to the fact that the path winded up and down a few large hills, and for all they knew, they were only a third of a mile from where they had started. Maybe getting on top of this thorn wall, which seemed to break above the sky-swallowing treetops, could give them a better judge as to their distance.

He thought of these things for a very simple reason: so he wouldn't think about Celestia anymore! He had finally managed to cut off his train of thought about the alicorn mare when he had stopped at the wall of thorns. Only, in his eyes, they weren't thorns: some of the larger ones looked more like sharpened railroad spikes, and some of the smaller ones grew in bunches that looked like they could hold a rampaging minotaur in place.

But even as he tried to keep his mind off of the princess, Spike's eyes turned towards her, looking directly at her face. He was not trying to keep his eyes off her body, nor was he trying to memorize her facial features: instead, he was watching her think. The way she furrowed her brow, how her tongue would occasionally flit out of her mouth and brush over her bottom lip: the way she'd occasionally bite that same lower lip. To put it simply he found her actions downright adorable, which some might think as weird; he didn't. She'd even scrunch her nose up in a cute way that made her look like she'd smelled something questionable.

Celestia turned to Spike, who upon seeing she was staring back at him, quickly averted his eyes. "Spike? Is something the matter?" the princess asked, having just ruled out a bridge over the thorns. It'd take way too damned long, and they'd likely deforest a huge area to get the supplies.

"Uh, no; it's nothing, Celestia," the dragon said hurriedly, thankfully remembering their deal and using her name instead of her title. "I was just... thinking. Yeah, I was thinking was all."

"About what?" the princess asked, rising from the stump and walking up to him.

Damn: she wasn't making this any easier for him. She'd caught him looking at her, and now he had to think of something plausible or her questioning would make him confess. "Uh... about the thorns," he said slowly, his brain working furiously to try and get everything he was thinking of to fit together. "Could... could I climb over them? They can't hurt me, after all, and they are pretty thick."

"Hmm..." the princess muttered, stroking her chin softly as she looked up the thorn wall. "You know, that's not a bad idea, Spike. Only... where will I climb? I am no dragon: just a soft, easily-damaged alicorn with no impenetrable scales."

"Oh, yeah, forgot about that," Spike said, rubbing the back of his neck in an embarrassed manner. How would she get over if he climbed? She couldn't fly, teleport or even float herself over with a bit of magic, and she sure as Tartarus couldn't dig under the damned thing. He had a feeling the root system would be too thick for even him to dig under, and there was no telling if the tunnel could collapse under the weight above it.

Wait a minute... if he climbed, she could get over the thorns! "I think I know a way, but I want your opinion on this," Spike said, stepping away from the thorn wall. A few small holes were left in the back of his shirt, and there was a slight gash down the lower part.

"Go ahead, Spike," Celestia said, curious as to what he could have thought of. He hadn't been silent for very long, so maybe his mind was a bit sharper than she thought?

"Well, if you climbed on my back and held on tight, I'm sure I could climb up and across those thorns," Spike said. "Of course, to help support you better and move around safer, I'd have to walk on all fours. It'd be a slower way than if I walked upright, for sure, but I wouldn't be able to securely hold onto those thicker ones with my feet. So... whaddaya say?"

Celestia was silent for a few moments, the gears in her head churning as she judged Spike's plan and weighed her other options. Except... there weren't really any other options. "I would say your plan is rather creative, even if a bit... unorthodox," the princess said, a small smile gracing her full lips. "But, how am I going to hang on for a longer amount of time? We don't have rope, and even though my physical strength has returned, I don't think I could hold on for too long, should this wall be thicker than we anticipate."

"You'll sling your arms around my neck and hold on," Spike said simply. "Once I'm up top, you'll be laying down instead of hanging off of me, so it shouldn't be as much of a problem." He knew he was right, but Spike was not sure just how far he would have to go. The thorns would no doubt hold his weight, but would they hold the combined weight of him and Celestia?

"Then let us begin," Celestia said, taking a step back. Spike turned around and grabbed onto a few good handholds, his scales providing small latches on which the thorn tips could catch, but not puncture. He looked back at the princess, a sudden look of apprehension flickering across her features.

"Well, come on then," the dragon said simply, jerking his head in a "come here" motion. "It's almost midday and I'm sure you'd like to be far away from these thorns by nightfall." He did: something about them seemed rather... odd. Not sinister, but then again, when did thorns grow in such a configuration as this?

Celestia gulped as the dragon looked away, taking a few steps closer to him. Of course, she could do this! She was Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria! Adored by countless ponies, loved by just as many, and respected by countless beings across the planet and onwards! It wasn't like she had never been carried by another in her adult life, and she wasn't afraid or anything!

Except... she never had been carried: she was alicorn, and in Canterlot she had never needed a reason to be carried. Even if she had, it would have been on a royal hamper, complete with guards carrying her aloft as if she weighed nothing at all. But out here, there was no Canterlot: no guards, no hampers, no plushy cushions to rest on. No, instead there was a young, deceivingly strong, male dragon's shirt-encompassed back, a back she was not sure she would be able to stay on if he were to slip slightly. Through the uppermost holes in said shirt she could see a bit of his shoulder blades bulging outwards, likely caused by the current position he was holding his arms in.

Slipping her arms around his neck and clenching her hands tightly together, she pressed her body against his back, offset slightly to avoid his dorsal spines. Her legs also curled around his waist, her full weight falling on him as she hooked her hooves together around his abdominal/pelvic area. She shuddered slightly as she pressed against his lower abdomen. Was she hanging onto a dragon, or a chiseled marble statue?

Spike grunted slightly at the extra weight, but compared to the other things he'd had to carry in the past, Celestia weighed practically nothing. The feeling of her dress-bound breasts pressed tightly into his back did little assuage his earlier mental conflict, but Spike held on to his mind and managed to push the feeling out of his focus. Pulling up and grasping another large thorn with his hand, he glanced behind him. Celestia's head was buried between his shoulder blades, and he could tell her eyes were clenched shut. Was she expecting to fall any moment?

"Better not let her down, then," he thought to himself, continuing the climb. Luckily, there were a lot of big thorns close together for him to easily grab, but he had to keep his body away from the wall itself. Celestia's arms and legs could get horribly scratched if he hugged the wall. So, to help him balance a bit, he held his tail out straight behind him. The largest of the spines provided the princess something akin to a seat, so her full weight wouldn't be on her arms and legs.

Celestia shivered slightly from the feeling of her posterior resting upon the spine, her body straddling the dragon's back as she held on. Thankfully her dress was still tight enough across her bum to form a sort of seat so the spine wouldn't wedge itself between her butt cheeks, but it was an odd experience to say the least. It was a good thing Spike's spines were rather dull, for if they had been sharp, he might had cut right through the fabric and possibly into her. As an added bonus, every time Spike moved, her breasts involuntarily slid back and forth slightly against his back, sending a very subtle shudder up her spine.

Slowly but surely, Spike climbed up the thorn wall, the tops of the trees getting closer and closer with each passing motion. He almost slipped once, when one thorn crumbled under his foot, but luckily he had had a better foothold on another one, and his handholds were secure enough to handle the sudden extra weight. After that incident, he had no more problems, and soon enough he passed the uppermost branches of the jungle canopy. Like a might orca bursting through the salty water off the northern coasts of Equestria, he climbed up and out through the canopy, just as his hand met a ledge on the wall. Climbing up and over it, Spike sprawled himself out on all fours, his body naturally adjusting to the position due to his dragon heritage.

He could feel Celestia tremble slightly in the sudden sunlight, her shivers sending a chill through his own body. "Celestia?" he said: no response. "Celestia, you can open your eyes now: we're on top of the thorns."

"We... we are?" the princess said in a squeak. Wow: she must have been really frightened at the prospect of falling off of Spike, judging from her death-grip.

"Yes, we are" the dragon said simply, taking a few tentative steps forward. "You might want to take a look at this." His voice was soft, as if it were filled with awe. Now what could he be seeing that would bring about such a reaction in the midst of their current attempt to cross an obstacle?

Slowly, ever-so-slowly, Celestia opened her eyes and tilted her head up from Spike's back. What greeted her sent a bolt of astonishment directly into her brain.

The thorns were like a mudslide, in that they swelled up into the sky like small hills and dipped down here and there. All over the place, small birds flittered about, feasting on reddish berries that grew off of the greenery on the thorn walls' top. Butterflies flittered about on the greenery, the pink and yellow flowers that had not yet transformed into berries attracting them with a vengeance. Off in the distance, the veritable garden on top of the hellish wall disappeared: it was the other side.

All around them, the jungle seemed to stretch on forever, stopping only when it reached a river. In fact, it was likely the very same river Celestia had almost drowned in, but this was a much less mature stretch of water: even from this distance, it looked turbulent, fast-flowing, and dangerous. After that river, the trees thinned out, until only scattered shrubs and a large field of grasses and wildflowers remained. Colors of all sorts blossomed out in that terrain, the colors mixing together on one's eye if they stared too long. After that, the shrubs disappeared, and the grasses became sparse under the shadow of the mountain. Higher up still, the grasses gave way to large boulders and what looked like old lava flows, as the bare rock looked like a muddy river frozen in place. After that, sheer rock face and a thin, winding ledge wound itself up and around the mountain, the natural path eventually disappearing from sight entirely.

As Spike moved, Celestia continued to look around them, taking in the sights and smells of the suddenly transformed thorn garden. The flowers had a fragrance to them that reminded her of a cross between cinnamon and honey, with the subtle fragrance of mint coming off of the green leaves. As a test, she quickly unhooked one hand, pulled off a leaf, and held it to her nose. It did indeed smell of wintergreen, and Celestia knew no poisonous plants grew on the island. She had cast a spell on the island a while ago that prohibited such plants from germinating. So, as an experiment, she placed the leaf in her mouth, wound her arm back around Spike's neck, and chewed gently.

"Mmm... refreshing, with a slightly sour aftertaste," she said, swallowing the chewed-up leaf with a small smile of pleasure. It was good: perhaps she would pick some more...

As Spike walked, he couldn't help but feel how Celestia kept shifting her weight on his back. Glancing back, he saw her eating some leaves, a strangely pleased look gracing her features. Feeling a bit hungry himself, he let his long tongue slurp out and ensnare a bundle of leaves, some ripe berries caught up in the mix. Retracting his wriggling tongue into his mouth, he chewed slowly.

"Mmm, the leaves are good, but those berries are strangely... both sweet and sour," he thought, swallowing the mixture. Snaking his tongue out again, he stopped and plucked a few berries from the mix, making sure they weren't coated in his saliva. "Here," he said to the alicorn on his back. "Try these; they're pretty good."

Celestia, slightly startled by Spike's offering, gingerly accepted his small gift and popped the berries into her mouth. As the unexpected taste filled her mouth, she smiled and hummed slightly in pleasure: who knew eating a strange food could be so good? In fact, she had to have more, and with the tiniest burst of magic that she could afford, the torn sleeves she carried reformed into a makeshift bag. Reaching out as far as she could, she began to grab leaves and berries and toss them into the bag. They'd need food, after all: they hadn't eaten since early yesterday, and by now, they were both rather famished.

A new wrinkle had been added to the cloth that was their journey: they'd need more food than they had anticipated, and that meant they'd eventually have to forage.

Spike, after swallowing another bundle of berries and leaves, suddenly found himself at the end of the wall of thorns. Sadly, he found this out too late, and tumbled over the edge, Celestia tumbling with him. Amidst their shouts of surprise, Spike luckily managed to wedge the spade-like end of his tail into a cluster of larger thorns, stopping his fall. Almost on instinct, Spike reached up and grabbed Celestia by her hands as she fell, grabbing them as her legs caught under his arms. With some great effort he pushed her back onto his back, and with one hand holding her in place, he used the other to get a good grip on the wall.

"Celestia, please don't freak out, but I'm going to let go of the wall with my tail," the dragon said, an idea forming in his head in a few short seconds.

"Wha-," Celestia was only able to say before Spike's tail came free from the thorns. With another shout of surprise, Celestia felt them swing down, and then around, and up again, until they stopped. Looking around in bewilderment, she saw what Spike had done. He had let them fall, and using the thorn as a pivot point, he had spun them and managed to end right-side up. His other hand had grabbed on quickly, and now that he had control, he began to slowly climb down.

"Spike, you should have given me a bit more... warning before you did that," the princess said with a slight tone of admonishment filtering through her voice.

"I know, but it was easier this way," the dragon said as he reached the bottom of the thorn wall. Stepping off and backwards, he kneeled slowly to the ground. Celestia hopped off his back, glad to be back on good, solid ground once more. "How much did you get in your "harvest period" up there?"

Celestia had almost forgotten about the makeshift bag she was carrying. Looking down into it, she grimaced slightly: it was some, but not near enough. "I'd say... we got enough food here for another day or two, depending on how much we can conserve," she said.

"Well, this is an island: I'm sure there's a lot more food for us to find out there," Spike said. As if to emphasize his point, he swept his arm out before them in a mock-grandiose pose. Despite herself, Celestia let forth a little giggle: he really did act silly sometimes.

"Oh Spike, you mustn't worry about food: you were right when saying this island has much in the way of foodstuffs," the princess said with a smile. She should know: a good half of the plants on this island were from her personal botanical gardens back in Canterlot, transplanted as saplings many decades ago to help the island develop an ecosystem.

"Then, shall we go, my lady?" Spike asked, bowing and sweeping his arms to the side to let Celestia pass him by like a true gentledragon. However, he had apparently forgotten the fact that the undergrowth of the jungle was still rather thick, as Celestia let loose another giggle.

"Spike?" she said, pointing in front of them. The dragon looked up and groaned: it was indeed going to be another long trek through the jungle's interior, and so he began to tear at the foliage once more, his claws flashing in the subdued light. The going was not nearly as rough as it had been before, but every now and then, their clothes would catch slightly on a few errant thorn bushes.

Walking behind the dragon once more, Celestia looked back at the thorn wall one last time before it was swallowed up by the jungle. So the pair of them continued their journey, the princess stopping every now and then to collect more small fruits or edible leaves, making sure to never tally for too long. It was only a few hours after noon, and it would do them plenty good to make good progress before sundown.

They both knew progress would be the key to their success.


	5. Kiss of the River

Chapter Five

Kiss of the River

The pair had managed to travel through the jungle for another hour before a new obstacle presented itself. Spike and Celestia knew from the waterfall off in the distance that there would be rapids along some stretch of the river, but they had not expected it to be so close to the thorn wall.

To say it was a small river might have been an understatement. It was not terribly wide, maybe no more than forty feet across, but the water rushing through it looked strong enough to crush anything that entered into its fold. The turbulent water that lay before them was somewhat colored like chocolate, with the occasional boulder sticking out along the waterway. Moss grew on the boulders and smaller rocks lining the banks, and nearly every tree along the banks had dead branches so long that the sparse canopy overhead was like a woven basket. Foam frothed in the small whirlpools and eddies that lay behind every large boulder, with more resting in the much calmer waters of a few sheltered banks. In short, it wasn't a good river to try and cross, especially with the rains from the day before having given it an extra surge in might.

"Well, how do we cross?" Spike asked, walking up and down the surprisingly brush-clear bank. A good five foot-wide swath followed the stretch of the river, clear of all brush like somepony had come through with a giant brush cutter. "We can't swim, obviously."

"Indeed, and we cannot hope to jump from rock to rock," Celestia said as she walked with Spike. "They are far too slippery; the water has worn them down to a smoothness resembling a tile floor."

"What about climbing through the branches?" Spike asked, glancing up at all the dead branches like they were the thorn wall all over again. "Some of those bigger ones look sturdy."

One such branch snapped off at the base the minute a butterfly landed on its outermost tip, sending the wooden debris tumbling end over end into the raging waters below. The butterfly flew off in a perceivable panic while Celestia simply shook her head.

"None of them will support our weight," she said, watching as the branch was broken apart on the rocks. Little slivers and pieces of it floated down stream like tiny boats, only to be swallowed up by a whirlpool behind three large boulders. "And even if they could, it would be very dangerous to us both. If either of us fell in that water, I doubt the other would be able to reach them in time."

"Yeah," Spike muttered as he strolled along the bank, looking for a way, any way, to get across. The jungle eventually gave way to the grass hills, and then the old lava flows, and from there they still had to scale the mountain to wherever Celestia had hidden... whatever it was she had. But the real trouble was the here and now, not the possibilities of the future part of the journey.

Walking up and leaning against a dead-looking tree, Spike gently tapped his tail against the base as he further descended into thought. Celestia, wrapped in her own musings, leaned on the same tree right alongside him. Her own thoughts mirrored his own, a nice change of pace from the confusing and oddly comforting thoughts about each other.

Celestia, as it so happened, glanced up at the tree they were leaning against, a possible idea forming in her head. Could they build a boat from the trunk of a tree? "Not likely; none of these trunks are thick enough for a makeshift canoe, and we don't have any strong vines or equivalent rope-like material to lash a raft together," she thought to herself, absentmindedly running her hand over the trunk. It was sturdy, yes, but they could not hope to simply build a bridge with it. They would need a whole bunch of ropes to hold the beams together, and-

"Ah!" Celestia said, her cry of victory startling Spike out of his thoughts. In fact, it startled him so much, he slipped off the tree trunk off to his side and landed flat on his ass. "Oh, sorry Spike."

"Ugh, I'm fine," the dragon mumbled, rising to his feet as he rubbed his sore buttocks. Those big rocks he had landed on had quite possibly the worst texture to feel on one's ass: jagged but flat, so everything ballooned around the piece. "So, you got an idea, I suppose?"

"Yes! Yes, I have an idea," Celestia said, suppressing the urge to giggle. Finally, it was her turn to contribute! For the last day she had done nothing but get in the way, or get hurt, or be a burden, but not this time! "Can you cut down this tree with your talons?" She patted the tree she was leaning against for good measure, in case he didn't know.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess," Spike said, walking up to it. "Which way do you want it to fall? I'm no lumberpony- er, I mean, I've never cut down trees before, but I think I can get it to fall a certain way. No promises, though."

"See if you can cut it so that it will fall across the river," the princess said, pointing to the other side. "We need to cross, and I do not see any nearby bridges. So, we will have to make our own makeshift one!"

"Wow, and here I was thinking of building a dam to block the stream for a few short moments," the dragon muttered with a slightly sheepish grin. "Guess thinking like a beaver isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Why would thinking like a beaver not have benefits?" Celestia asked. "I mean, they are hardworking creatures, they work well in family groups, care for one another, and-"

"It's just a saying of Fluttershy's," Spike said. "It's along those lines, yeah, but... in this case, I think I took it a bit too literally."

The princess chuckled slightly at that, walking away from the tree as she did so. "Well, best get going Spike. I'm sorry I can't magically make a two-pony hacksaw for us or anything. At least then I'd be able to help."

"Hey, you're the princess! I should be honored to be able to assist you in anything you desire," Spike said, with a mock-serious bow before he got to work. His talons flashing, he began to carve through the old trunk as close to the base as he could, making sure to keep the cuts facing the river.

"Anything I desire, huh?" Celestia asked, an unfamiliar blooming sensation flittering through her brain. It felt like a combination of euphoria and the feeling of satisfaction somepony would feel after accomplishing a hard day's work. "What do you think I would desire, Spike?"

Spike almost flinched at this, the question getting a bit too close to his thoughts on her when he was trailblazing just a short time ago. "Celestia, I'm not so sure this is the right kind of question to ask me. I don't really... know you all that much. I-"

"Nonsense Spike, it is perfectly reasonable for me to ask you such a question," Celestia said, that same blooming feeling coursing through her veins. Perhaps those berries she had eaten acted as a stimulant? "It still stands, you know: what do you think I desire?"

"Well, I, uh..." Spike began, almost missing the trunk with a few swings of his talons. "Peace, I guess? Maybe Freedom?"

"Peace, I can understand. Though quite a few years ago, in the eyes of you and your friends, the invasion of Canterlot by Chrysalis and her hordes did show my subjects we are not immune to the goings-on in the world around us," the princess said, gently seating herself on a peculiarly square-shaped rock. "An easy enough assumption, and a correct one as well, I might add, but I'm curious. Why did you say freedom?"

"I'm not really sure," the dragon said slowly, trying to focus his body on the task at hand while still freeing up enough of his brain to process what Celestia was saying. If he didn't he'd likely miss a couple of swings and look like an idiot, swinging away at nothing.

"Did you perhaps mean freedom for my ponies?" Celestia asked, her voice sounding a tad off, even to herself. Maybe those leaves acted as an emotional enhancer? "Am I not a good princess? Do I not serve my subjects with the grace, dignity and care they deserve?"

"No, I mean yes, I mean- uh!" Spike shouted, stopping for a second to bury his face into his hands. "You are a great ruler, Celestia," he mumbled through his fingers before uncovering his face and getting back to his work. "Greater than you think," he added softly.

"In what way?" Celestia asked, her voice not a demanding tone, but pretty close to it. She wanted to know, and although it was unlike her to think like this, she would pester him until he told her. "Tell me, I can take criticism: it comes with the duty I have taken upon myself as co-ruler of Equestria."

"You are nothing like the other royalty I have heard about around the world," the dragon said softly as he stopped to measure his way through the tree. Almost a full third of the way through, but with a trunk this strong, there was no telling how much more he'd have to go through to make it fall. "You're kind, compassionate and gentle, with a good conscience and a drive to see the ponies you rule live good and happy lives. Your agendas, if you even have any, are always for the good of your subjects, and you've repeatedly shown you are highly willing to delegate power if it means happiness for us all."

Celestia was silent for a moment, as if taken aback by shock. Spike's words were honest, but she had had no idea he had felt that way or even that many of her subjects felt that way, if his answer was anything to go by. She had just thought she was well-liked because she was a kind ruler. The strange feeling in her body continued, surging as his praises hit home for her. "Well, Spike, that is a very... gallant thing to say, and I must say I am honored to be held in such high esteem. But getting back to my earlier question, why do you think I of all ponies desire freedom?"

"I... I think it has to do with your title," Spike mumbled as he made another slash into the tree. "You're a princess, one of the two most powerful figures in Equestria, and indeed the world. You raise and lower the sun at will, with or without anypony asking you to do so. You are always on time with it as well; never late, never early, always on time. You speak with countless dignitaries on the behalf of Equestria's citizens, you foster treaties that are more than fair to both parties, and you constantly lend power to those most suited for using it wisely."

He sighed. "Maybe I'm just crazy, but you need a break from all of that. At least, I think you do."

"A break?" Celestia asked, arching her eyebrows as the river continued to rush past them. "A break from my duties? This... excursion of ours is to save the world, and it is likely the first time I have had so little to actually do that involved something other than my daily duties. Why would I need a break?"

"Like I said, I'm not sure, but..." Spike began, his voice lowering slightly, "you do so much, all the time, with so little to show for it. You're our beloved princess of the sun, the shining beacon in our daily lives, but what time do you have to yourself? What sacrifices have you made over the countless years to make our lives better at the cost of your own satisfaction and happiness? You are by far the least likely pony to be jealous, but don't you ever wonder what it would be like to be... free of those duties, of those burdens, for even a day?"

Celestia paused for a few moments, letting his words sink in. "I... have given them some thought, Spike; many, many times, in fact. It's just..." She let the words hang in the air, her voice trailing off.

"Just what?" Spike asked as the tree swayed slightly in a light breeze, more so than it normally would have. Spike was getting closer: in fact, he was now halfway through.

"It's just... Spike, I am a co-ruler of Equestria! Other than some very important diplomatic visit, or some world-saving mission like now, I can't just... take a day off! I have far too many responsibilities and duties to take care of on a daily business, and I have gotten used to such a life. In my many, many centuries of life, I have learned to be very proficient at managing my time wisely." She smiled slightly at that: sure, the statement was a bit prideful, but it was true.

"But, still... haven't you ever wanted something a bit less... I don't know, monotonous?" Spike asked as he stopped swiping at the tree and went around to the back side. "It must get boring to do all that day in and day out."

"Occasionally the overall feeling of accomplishment does not eclipse the stress of the day, but it is a burden I must bear," the princess said softly as she watched the dragon push against the tree with his shoulder. "May I ask what you are doing?"

"This," Spike said, and with a grunt, pushed with all his might. A noise emanated from the base of the trunk: a squeak, then a groan, and finally a rather long-lasting tearing sound as the old plant tissue inside of the tree gave way. The tree fell slowly at first, but as with all things that fall, it rapidly gained speed until it crashed through all undergrowth in its way. With a mighty crash, one so great it made Celestia bounce off of her seat and onto the ground, the tree slammed onto the ground. Some of the lower branches snapped off from the sheer forces exerted upon the tree's sudden stop, plunging into the river with might splashes.

Spike, who had been knocked back by the jolt, slowly stood back up. He shook his head and peered through the falling leaves of the upper branches, the area now somewhat brighter with the removal of a sun-blocking canopy. Granted, there had been almost no leaves on the tree, but the sunlight filtering through the freshly-made gap was a pleasant thing to see.

"Did it make it to the other side?" Celestia asked, gently rubbing her bottom as she rose to her hooves. There was a small tear along the lower back of her gown from where she had grazed her seat, making the already-beaten material even more flimsy. A few more inopportune slices here and there, and the whole thing would just fall apart.

Spike stepped onto the trunk and balanced himself while he peered at the other side of the river. The larger top branches were caught up with the lower ones of the opposite bank's tree, and a few had managed to worm their way onto the ground as well. From here, all the plants along the bank had been completely flattened under the tree's mighty weight.

"Yeah," he said, taking a step forward before looking back at the sun princess: she hadn't moved. "Well, we don't have all day, you know." Spike couldn't resist the urge to grin, as he had just made a bridge out of a tree in less time than he had thought it would take. Talk about progress! By the time they needed to bed down for the night, they hopefully would be all the way to the grassy hills.

"Of course, of course," Celestia said in a hurried manner, hiking up her dress slightly to give her legs a bit more room to maneuver. In a few leaps and bounds she was at the trunk, and with a helping hand from Spike, found herself astride the fallen piece of timber.

"Okay, now all we need to do is get across," Spike said, slowly walking forward. However, a hand upon his shoulder stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Spike, I'm... I'm not so sure of this," Celestia said, looking past Spike and into the turbulent water. The way it frothed and splashed looked far more dangerous from above than it had from alongside it.

"Come on, princess, it won't be that hard," Spike said. "I mean, Celestia," he added, noting the slightly exasperated expression that flickered across her features. He really needed to remember to call her by her name. "It's only about... forty feet or so, and the trunk is nice and wide for us to walk on."

"Yes, but... I'm not so sure my balance will hold up as well as yours," she replied, forcing herself to look away from the water and into Spike's eyes. "Your feet are far more suited for gripping than my hooves. All it will take is one little slip, and-,"

"Then hold onto my tail for balance," Spike said, swinging his large appendage out for the princess to grab onto. "If you fall, I'll catch you: just like on the thorn wall, remember?"

Celestia looked at the large scaly thing in front of her, her usual decisiveness giving way to self-doubt. Would she be able to balance well enough where she wouldn't stumble and possibly push Spike off? Her hooves could not grip anything, and she had never before needed to balance herself on something like this tree trunk. Plus, how would she hold onto his tail? Put her hands under the groove of the spade near the base, or perhaps onto the spines along the back?

Spike looked from Celestia to the other side of the river and back. "We'll take it slow, Celestia," he said. "Come on now, my tail won't bite."

Celestia incited her courage to make her do what needed to be done, and with a firm resolve she gripped Spike by the tail, right below where his spade fanned out from the main stem. Feeling the muscles flex underneath the scales, she quietly nodded in his direction. "Go on, Spike. Lead the way."

Spike nodded and looked to where his feet would go, taking a gentle step forward. "So far, so good," he thought, slowly walking across the log. He could feel Celestia's soft hands digging into his scales, but she was doing great so far. Another step, and then another: a repeating pattern that would take them all the way across the log.

"Spike, I know now is not the best time, but... do you think something was in those berries?" Celestia asked, making sure to firmly plant each step with her hooves so as to not slip. The tree trunk wasn't slippery, but it was round, and round objects are easy to fall off of.

"What? Spike asked, almost stopping to turn and look at her in confusion. "Are you feeling sick or something?"

"Well, not sick," Celestia said slowly as she light stepped over the remains of an old branch. "I feel... rather odd is all." That was true enough, as she felt a heat come to her cheeks without any input from her. It was like her body was reacting to those berries, but just what was this reaction?

"Well, you did say those leaves and berries were edible, since it was you that brought them to the island," Spike said as a small bird flittered over his head. "Do you remember the exact species of plant they are? It wouldn't do well for us to have just eaten some leaves that act as powerful laxatives or anything."

"No, no, the leaves are fine," Celestia said, shaking her head very slightly so as to not upset her center of gravity. "No, the berries though... I remember they were used in special herbal remedies in many backwater communities, but for the ever-long life of me, I can't remember exactly what they do."

Spike gingerly stepped over another large dead branch. "Well, let's go through our options," he said as he felt Celestia take another step after him. "Whatever you're feeling, it's not affecting me in the slightest, and you ate a bit more than I did, so that could be the reason why you're feeling it and I'm not. Other than that, you said you're just feeling a bit... odd?"

"Yes," the princess said as she gingerly stepped over the same dead lower branch Spike had. "Like my body is pushing me towards a feeling I cannot describe. I feel compelled to... do something, though I know not what that something is."

"Are the berries making you sleepy?" Spike asked. "They could be like those sleeping berries Zecora uses to help parents put restless foals to bed."

"No, no, I'm wide awake," Celestia said as her eyes trailed down his back and onto the portion of his tail where her hands were currently gripping. Looking there caused her to slightly shift her focus to the raging waters below once more, so she shut her eyes tightly for a second, reopening them when she was sure she wasn't going to be looking at the water again. It worked; her eyes were now fixed on the back of Spike's head.

"Well, are you seeing things that aren't there?" Spike asked as he slowly took another step; they were almost half-way there. "Hallucinogenic ones like the kind Pinkie accidentally put in Twilight's birthday cake last year?" Wow, that had been hilarious indeed. Spike had come home to find Twilight trying to eat a book, which she at the time claimed was a giant dandelion sandwich. That poor book still had the teeth marks in it, and to this day Twilight refused to believe anypony who said it looked like somepony had chewed on it.

Never mind what the others had been doing upon his return. Pinkie had been practicing kung-fu on her shadow with marginal success, Fluttershy was somehow hovering without flapping her wings, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been locked in a wrestling match with an old blanket, and Rarity... oh, poor Opal. That poor cat would never forgive her owner for dying the cat's entire body lime green, all the while spouting "how fabulous you look, Mr. Croco-Dill Pickle".

"No, I'm not seeing anything unusual, though it is becoming rather... focused," Celestia said as she continued to tip-hoof behind Spike. "I feel anxious, even more now than before, and I can't seem to just... say what it is. It's like one of those feelings you just can't describe, you know?"

"All too well, Celestia," the dragon said as he lowered his foot onto the trunk again. "I-AHH!"

There was a loud cracking sound, and Spike's foot shot clear through the trunk of the tree as he stepped down, rotten splinters flying everywhere. This tumble sent Celestia forward, flying over his tail and landing right on his back.

"Spike!" she cried as another loud crack was heard, her hands curling around his neck in surprise and fright. From where Spike had crunched through, a crack spread around the outside of the trunk like a winding snake, the rupture quickly encircling the trunk.

"Hold on!" Spike shouted as another groan, like the one from when the tree fell over, emanated from where they were stuck.

"Wha-," was all Celestia could say before the tree snapped in half, both middle ends falling away from the alicorn and dragon. For an instant, the pair of them was suspended in mid-air, and Celestia, against her will, beat her wings to keep them that way. Sadly, her wings were still hurt, and she clutched them to her sides as they fell, a sharp pain shooting through where they connected to her back.

"SONUFAB-," was Spike managed to say before the both of them plunged into the water, the surprisingly colder liquid pushing them the instant they were submerged. Tumbling under the somewhat murky surface, Spike managed to push up off the bottom with his tail, propelling Celestia and himself up to the water's surface.

As their faces rose above the water, the now-panicking duo breathed in huge gulps of air. Spike, the first to have his eyes clear, twisted Celestia around so she was behind him as they flew downstream with the current. Celestia was able to see why he did that a split second before the impact.

"Oof!" they both cried as Spike slammed into a large boulder, his impact sending a few small chips of the rock flying away from where his talons met stone. He lashed out and tried to get a grip on the hard material, but to no avail. His claws skidded and slipped along the surface. Again they were underway, at the mercy of the river's power. Bobbing like a pair of conjoined corks, the duo gasped for air, as every breath was a luxury they could ill-afford to miss.

Spike's tail helped balance them as they went along, but his large appendage did little slow them down, no matter how much he tried to dig it into the river's bottom. Spike spun Celestia away from another boulder as they rammed into it, the hard surface once again proving far too slippery for Spike's talons to take hold onto. Spike, spluttering and wheezing from the bone-jarring impacts of the next two boulders, flung his arms up in frustration as Celestia shivered on his back, the chilly water seeming to seep into her very bones.

As luck would have it, Spike had managed to fling his arms up at an opportune moment. The river, it seemed, had claimed far more trees in its time than previously thought, and so when he did, his hands snagged on a tree laying over the river, the lower branches hovering mere inches above the water. Spike's grip proved strong enough this time, as he managed to clamp onto the branches and hold them in place. All around them, the water churned and frothed as it rushed by them, little bubbles forming in the small wake swirling behind their bodies.

"How did... we not see... this tree?" Celestia gasped, finally managing to hold her head above the water for more than a few seconds. Her mane trailed behind her, absolutely soaked once more, and her crown was askew. The only reason it was on was due to the fact she had placed a spell on it a few days ago so that only a living being (sentient, of course) could physically remove it from her head.

"We're... a good distance... away from where... we started," Spike gasped in return, his body aching from the number of times it had slammed into large, slippery boulders. "We... went around that... last bend, and... we wouldn't have... seen it... anyway. The undergrowth here is... too thick."

"Okay, we're in a... better position... now," the princess said, her wings feeling like they had absorbed a good fifty gallons of water. "Can you move... towards shore?"

"Yeah... yeah, I think I... can," Spike wheezed, his breath returning. Slowly, he moved his hand to another branch, his arms swung out like those of a monkey. Swinging with the current, his hand latched onto the next branch, and then another. Their progress was slow and rather bone-chilling, but they were getting closer and closer to the opposite shore.

Celestia heard a large splash and a crashing noise behind them, and so naturally looked to see what the source of the commotion was. Her eyes grew as large as saucers as she saw what was barreling towards them. "Spike, you may want to go FASTER!" she cried out.

Spike turned as he swung to the next branch, and his eyes turned as comically large as Celestia's had. The two halves of the tree he had broken through were barreling down the river like two massive crocodiles, the halves slamming into boulders and bouncing off with seemingly minor damage at all. From the speed at which they were moving, to be hit by one, if not both would be... deadly.

Spike grunted as he willed his body to go faster, swinging from branch to branch as fast as he could without letting himself be pulled fully into the water's embrace. Celestia spurred him on with words like "Faster!" and "You can do this!" and the like. The water churned around them, the branch Spike let go of occasionally snapped off behind them, and the river's temperature remained cold, but still he pressed on, his lungs burning as he struggled to breath.

Finally, Spike was at the last branch, and that was the good news. The bad news was that the next nearest hold, a still-jagged boulder, lay a good six feet away. The worse news was that the two halves of the tree were almost upon them, and if they hit the tree they were on, they might be crushed by it when it fell.

"Hold on!" Spike shouted, and using his tail as a springboard while pulling with all his might, he launched the pair of them at the rock, their bodies almost entirely leaving the water as he did so. The instant they were halfway there, the two pieces of the old tree trunk smashed into the overhanging tree, snapping it in half as the resulting collision sprayed chips of wood and old branches everywhere. The water churned even more so, frothing and bubbling as the two remains of the trees seemingly did battle amidst the current.

Spike's talons managed to find a hold on the boulder as soon as he landed, but in the instant he tried to pull them up and out of the water, a large chunk of wood slammed into the side of his head. Crying out in pain, he let one hand go on instinct to clutch his hurt face. Suddenly, the weight of both of them on his remaining hand nearly made his lose his grip entirely, had it not been for the quick thinking of Celestia. As Spike clutched his face with one hand, Celesta's own hands lashed out and gripped the rock with all her might, her weight somewhat being lifted from Spike's own grip.

"Come on, we're almost there!" she said to Spike as the trees behind them eventually swept past, the destroyed branches bumping into them as they floated away in the current. "You can do this, Spike!"

Grunting as his face-massaging hand went back to the boulder, Spike pulled the both of them up and out, Celestia's own hands moving with his own to small handholds. The rock's somewhat jagged surface scraped futilely against the dragon's scales, a few of the longer shards breaking off against the much harder surface. Spike's shirt, soaking wet, was ripped to shreds by the rock, the tatters falling off and washing away into the stream. His pants too were shredded as he managed to drag them completely out of the water, his arms aching as they both tumbled over the rock and onto the soft, grassy ground on the other side.

Celestia coughed and spluttered slightly from the impact, her body feeling like a block of lukewarm ice. Her wings weighed her down, her dress was soaked once more, there were tears across the clothing's back that had not been there before, and her hooves felt like they had been split on the sharp rocks. But, she was alive, and so was Spike.

After a few minutes of rest, the pair of them sat up, Spike leaning against the rock for support as he gently rubbed the side of his face where the tree had caught him. Managing to get on all fours without collapsing from exhaustion, Celestia crawled over to Spike and kneeled next to him, her hand quickly removing some of her mane from her face.

"Spike, are you okay?" she asked gently, her bones feeling like they had liquefied in the river. Her dress, to her dismay, was beyond ruined now. She would have to find some large leaves or something suitable for a replacement set.

"Ugh, I don't feel so good," the dragon mumbled, his chest heaving slightly as he tried to regain some of his strength.

"Here, let me take a look," the princess said, reaching up and gently prying Spike's hand off of his face. Ow, did it look rather unpleasant. The right side of his face was slightly swollen, and there was some definite bruising along both his jawline and his eye. None of the scales were damaged, but the swelling around his eye might not go down for a few hours, rendering his normally rather sharp vision somewhat reduced.

"How bad is it?" the dragon asked, his mouth hurting. "Will I get a scar?" He cracked a smile at this, showing off a few thankfully not-broken teeth. Not the wittiest joke, but it helped break the severity of what their situation might have been had they not escaped the roaring river.

"No, I don't think so. Your scales hold up remarkably well for a dragon as young as you," Celestia said, her soft hands gently massaging his face. "Normally, the younger a dragon is, the less impervious to harm they are. But enough about your dragon biology; does this feel better?"

The heat in her body skyrocketed as she touched him, the smoothness of his scales surprisingly soft to her touch. Who would have thought a nigh-impenetrable material could instill in one the feeling of softness?

"Yeah, it does," Spike groaned, his body aching as Celestia's hands gently rubbed his bruised face. "It feels so good."

"And this?" Celestia asked as she gently rubbed the bruised side of Spike's jaw, her fingers gently kneading the fine scales and the muscles lying underneath it. She could feel something shift slightly under the light pressure she applied, as if something had become dislodged when Spike had slammed into one of those boulders.

"So much better," the dragon said, whimpering slightly as his jaw popped back fully into place. It hadn't popped completely out of its socket, but had brushed a small bundle of nerves upon going back in, hence the pain. He likely wouldn't even be able to chew for a few hours, and then only soft foods.

Oh, the food! In his addled state, Spike could barely remember if Celestia's makeshift bag still had the berries and leaves in them from the thorn wall. He tried to glance over, but either it had washed away with the river or was off somewhere in the grass. If it was behind her, he could not tell, as her body and large, dripping wings were in the way.

"And now?" Celestia asked as her hands gently moved up to around his eye, gingerly moving the scales and underlying flesh with the utmost care. These gentle actions erased the thoughts of what had happened to the food from the dragon's mind.

"So... good," Spike groaned once more, turning his face towards her slightly. Her pelt was matted down with water, her eyes looked like they had slight bags under them, and her dress looked even more shabby than before, but Spike didn't think of that. He thought she looked like an angel, a heavenly figure sent to attend to his "heroically received" wounds.

"And... this?" Celestia whispered as she felt compelled to touch him with something softer than her fingers. Her graceful lips, puckered and redder than the most purebred rose, gently brushed against his bruised face, up and down all over his injuries.

"Y-y-yeah," Spike sighed, his grin faltering as he slowly began to lose consciousness, many of his thoughts falling into nothingness as his brain demanded rest from his weary body. His head turned a bit more as the princess's lips brushed near the corner of his mouth, and for the briefest of seconds and longest of eternities, their lips met. Celestia's eyes widened in surprise, but she did not pull away immediately, as she felt as though Spike's lips and her own were suddenly glued together. Spike's lips were softer than anything she had ever experienced, and as his eyes closed, she could see within his gaze a small sense of confusion and... Happiness.

Gently pulling away after what could have been mere seconds or wondrous hours, Celestia looked around the clearing in the forest. A small cave, carved into the rock by seasonal flooding from the river, looked like a rather fine place to rest. It was partly concealed by large ferns and some hanging vines, but it was clear nothing was residing in it. She had, after all, overseen the transportation of each and every plant and animal to this island. Off in the distance, a loud rumble sounded again. Another storm was brewing, and they needed shelter that instant, or face the possibility of becoming even more waterlogged.

"Come on, Spike," the tired princess aid, somehow managing to find the strength to not only stand up, but to start dragging the unconscious dragon with her. His tail's spines left furrows in the ground as she hauled him away, her hands hooking together across his chest as she supported him under the armpits with her arms. "Let's get in the cave; we can continue tomorrow." Far away, the thunder rumbled again as the winds began to pick up slightly. The trees over the river started to sway to and fro with the winds, and soon enough, the sound of the river itself was drowned out by the approaching storm.

Perhaps a little late for it to make a difference, Celestia realized the bag of food was still slung around her back. However, when she took it off, she saw all of the berries and all but three of the leaves had washed away. Nearly the entirety of their thorn wall harvest was gone, and she was far too tired to try and go out looking for more. It was not even evening yet, but with the storm nearly upon them, it would be safer for her to go looking for more in the morning.

Celestia propped Spike up on a large bed of completely harmless mushrooms, the mat growing so thick one might have mistaken it for a mattress. Lying down beside him while propping herself up, Celestia looked out in time to see a light mist beginning to fall past the cave's entrance: the rain was already starting to fall. A sharp flash of light off in the distance, distilled through the curtain of leaves, showed the storm had arrived in full strength.

"Sleep well Spike," Celestia said, gently caressing the bruised side of his face once more. Leaning down, she captured his lips in another kiss, the feeling in her body jumping for joy at the feeling of contact. A tingle spread through her body as she did this, but sadly it went away as she withdrew her soft lips from his. Lying next to him and laying her still somewhat wet wings over them, Celestia closed her eyes and fell asleep; her body was exhausted from yet another near-death scenario. However, her mind was tinged with great happiness, as now not only had she accomplished something she had never done before, but she had helped save Spike's life by holding onto that rock. Had she not, they both likely would have been swept away. The tingling of the kiss on her lips left a small smile on her face as she slept.

The warm air of the jungle and the cave would be far more comforting to them that night than the sound of ocean waves upon the sand.


	6. The Truth Will Set You Free

Chapter Six

The Truth Will Set You Free

Indeed, the thunderstorm that ravaged the island did not run itself out until the very early hours of the morning. Celestia awoke to a thick fog enshrouding the forest, the eerie calm unsettling her slightly. It was as if she and Spike had traveled back in time, back before the galactic rule of the alicorns; back to an age when primordial creatures lived and died under a much younger sun, uncaring of the galaxy-ruling scaly figures that watched over them. The Council of Dragons, and indeed the entire species, had conceded the throne of power after the extinction of their most favored creations by way of an asteroid, stating "it is time for a new age", or so the princess remembered from her alicorn history lessons.

The princess knew she had nothing to fear from the forest, since there weren't any dangerous animals or anything, but that didn't stop her from feeling a slight tremble go up her spine. The fog eerily reminded her of an amorphous blob, blanketing everything in sight. Her stomach grumbled slightly, an evident sign that she had had little to eat since arriving on the island. Celestia could only guess as to what Spike was feeling inside, as he hadn't made any notion of feeling better, save for the slight murmurings in his sleep. Grabbing the empty bag that used to carry the thorn wall's bounty, which had been lost during the tumble in the river, she stooped over Spike.

"Spike? If you can hear me, I'm going to look for some food. I won't be gone long, I promise." She didn't have anything to write on, so she couldn't just leave him a note or something similar.

The dragon merely muttered "okay" or something along those lines. Celestia took it as a sign she could leave him alone, and so she set out, the cave's entrance disappearing behind her as she set out into the fog. The undergrowth also obscured it rather well in this dim setting, but she placed a minor tracking spell on her hooves as she went along. It was a terribly simple one, and effective; in her mind's eye, she could already see where her footprints would lead back to. A veritable trail of breadcrumbs, like out of a fable.

Right away, she found some rather delicious-looking berries, and after consulting her brain, remembered them to be a species of wild cherry ideal for jams and jellies, but perfectly scrumptious when fresh. Plucking as many ripe ones as she could reach, and using tiny bursts of magic to reach ones higher up, Celestia packed them away gently in her makeshift bag. She had already lined it with some of the grasses and sedges that grew along the banks of the river, after having carefully walked along the bank to collect them.

Already she could feel her magic beginning to return to her in force, and her wings were starting to feel better as well. Having not been terribly exhausted by the river's wrath, the food she had managed to eat on the thorn wall was rejuvenating her in both body and magic. If only the surge of nutrients gained from that small meal could ease her conflicted mind like it did her body; then she'd be happier that they were safe.

"You'll have to tell him, you know," a whisper said, causing the princess to nearly drop her goodies in astonishment. Looking around, she saw nothing but plants and the thick fog. The sun had obviously risen already, as she could innately feel such things, but for the life of her she could not see where it was in the sky. The fog obscured anything farther than a few dozen feet, and the overhead trees did little to help with the situation.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" she said in a hushed shout, not wanting to scream for fear of Spike waking and losing himself in his quest to find her. Was the stress of the island finally getting to her? Was she starting to hear voices, a sure sign she was going completely cuckoo? Or had her feelings finally become so overwhelming that she could no longer hold them back and was experiencing some sort of paranoid delusion?

"I have always been here, Celestia; you know that as well as I do," the voice said, oddly familiar and entirely feminine. "Why won't you tell Spike the truth? You know dragons value and respect honesty, even if it isn't exactly what they would like to hear. How else could you have concluded that peace treaty between those two dragon nobles seven hundred years ago?"

"What truth?" Celestia asked as she stooped over plucked a few leaves from some wild lettuce, still glancing around for the source of this conversation. "How do you know about Spike?" A dragon's code of honor was always unique to the individual, and Spike was perhaps one of the most unique dragons in the entire world. He had been raised by ponies, far from other dragons and even farther still from the place where all of his kind had originated. Perhaps someday, far in the future, she would show him where that was.

"I know him because you know him, Celestia. You must tell him the truth of why you are here, my dear," the voice said, its volume barely above that of a whisper. "The truth of why the world is in such danger, and of why you selected him specifically for this task. Of why his friends are in trouble for your foolishness, and how he can help you through this difficult time."

Celestia suppressed a growl as she leaned up and plucked two ripe mangos from a small tree. "He... he will know in time, as we near the date. It is better that way." She was beginning to recognize the voice, as it had a familiarity to it that even she could not deny.

"But why then? Why can he not know now, before an ultimatum is the only way for him to agree?"

The princess looked around for the voice once more, but could not find the source. It came from everywhere and nowhere at once, and the sheer lack of emotion in its words made her shiver slightly. "It will be an easier decision for him to make when the urgency of the situation overrides any possible repulsion he may feel."

"Ah, repulsion," the voice said, an almost humored tone emanating from it. "What would he have to be repulsed about? By how beautiful you are? By how selfless and passionate you are to creatures from all walks of life?"

"By how I tricked him," Celestia said softly as she walked around, picking leaves from several edible plants as she did so. "I led him to believe there was a device or construct of some sort on this island that could aid us in saving the world. I never specifically said such a thing existed, but my words led him to believe such a falsehood nonetheless."

"I know; I was there when you said all of that," the voice whispered, sounding closer and closer with every spoken syllable. "I have always been there for you, after all. We can never be separated, you and I."

"Where are you?!" Celestia's nerves were getting the better of her. She wanted to shout, to scream, to throw branches around to find this maddeningly calm and all-knowing voice. It took much for Celestia, princess of the sun, to lose her cool, but right now she felt like losing her cool would be an appropriate thing to do. How else would any other pony respond to hearing a voice that belongs to something that they cannot see, but also apparently knows them as well as they know themselves? They'd probably think they'd lost their minds and check into a loony bin or something.

"I am here," the voice said simply, and Celestia felt the urge to rub her temples. "I am your conscience, Celestia. You and I have been good friends for many millennia, with very few things ever coming between us. I am, after all, the collected thoughts, experiences and feelings of you since the day you were born. All alicorns are born with this secondary intellect, so as to help manage their many-millennia lifespans. All those years of life and the resulting experiences can take a toll, even on ones such as us." Since her conscience was technically part of her, and yet slightly separate, it could us the terms "us" and "I" in equal measure.

"But why now? Why on this island should you make yourself known once more?" Celestia finally realized she was simply talking to herself, which meant this was all in her head, but that did not stop her from remembering; from remembering when her conscience had nearly taken a physical form just to talk with her about a painful decision. A decision that haunted her to this day, even more so than when she had accidentally wiped out all future chances of life evolving on the planet Mars.

"You and I have not had a good discussion since our sister Luna's transformation into the dreaded Nightmare Moon," the voice said again, softer in tone and yet having not diminished in volume at all. "We have not truly needed one, and so I have remained silent until now. Your deceit, however minor or important in your eyes, is eating you up on the inside. I can tell you are aching within, knowing you won't tell Spike until it is too late for him to make a decision; too late for him to try and refuse you. With the fate of the world in the balance, he will submit, but forever hate you for this trickery. You and I both know how you loath to be hated by anypony, even your enemies."

"But... but... what do I do?" Celestia asked, sitting down and putting her face in her hands. She felt like she was in front of her parents again as a little filly, asking why her cutie mark hadn't made itself known as soon as her cousin's had. She was thousands of years old, and yet she was asking herself, her subconscious, for answers she had battled with for days on end.

"Tell him the truth, Celestia," the voice said once more, sounding as though it was drawing further away with every word. Her conscience, even in all its collective wisdom, never lasted very long when it made itself apparent to her. It wasn't designed to lead her all the way through life, but to just act as an occasional source of guidance and advice. "Tell him the truth today, and see where it goes from there. There yet may be a way to salvage this upcoming apocalypse if you tell him... everything."

Celestia sat in silence, her head in her hands as she thought on the voice's words. Of course, anypony who knew she talked with her incredibly more mature subconscious would think her completely crazy and petition for her to seek medical attention. However, she knew that the inner voice she had been talking with for the past few minutes was right; it was time Spike knew of what was going on, and what he would need to do to save his friends.

"Ugh, I feel just terrible about this whole ordeal," the princess muttered to herself, both dreading the return to the cave and feeling relieved of no longer having to keep this secret from Spike until the very end. She would tell him, plain and simple; she would tell him upon returning to the cave what would need to be done, and maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't hate her for the falsehoods she had bestowed upon him.

"I will tell him... right after I finish collecting some more food," the princess said, walking a bit farther away from the river and along a rock face that lead towards the cave. "Yes, this sugarcane will do nicely, I think."

Awhile later, and back in the cave...

Spike opened his eyes slowly and groaned, his entire face hurting as the muscles beneath moved. It was no longer swollen, but the flesh was still somewhat tender underneath his scales. Blinking a few times in the subdued light, he glanced out of the cave entrance, seeing a light fog bank obscuring anything more than a few dozen feet away.

"Rain must've stopped a while ago," he muttered, sitting up from the bed of... mushrooms? The soft, spongy material beneath him had to have been rather thick to have supported his weight, and yet it did without any apparent effort. "Huh; didn't expect that," he muttered as he looked down on the soft bed-like area he had slept on. Glancing over, he saw another slight indent right next to the one he had apparently made.

"Celestia slept next to me again?" he whispered to himself, curious as to why he was actually a bit happy that had happened. Then, in a slow but definite rush, it all started coming back to him; the day before flashed before his eyes, slowing down at moments that seemed more important than others. The last thing he saw, and now remembered, was Celestia's soft, puckered lips gently pressing against his own. Even now, many hours later, the mere memory of the event sent a strong tremor up his spine.

"Celestia kissed me," he muttered, wanting to both shout it to the world and hide away from everything. Of all the things that could have happened to him on this island, by far, that was the... fourth or fifth least-likely thing he had thought could happen. He had been kissed by the most powerful being in all of Equestria. It hadn't been some lightly-on-the-cheek, meaningless sign of affection, either; it had been full on the lips, with something far more meaningful that mere gratitude hidden behind it.

Spike felt so embarrassed by the encounter, and yet that little action brought a thought to his mind. Unheeded, unwanted, but still it presented itself before him; just why this island? Celestia had mentioned something being here that could help save the world from the sun's... upcoming problem, but what exactly? Why would it need to be on an unknown island in the middle of nowhere, with no animals save for some little birds and pollinating insects? There were no buildings, no signs of civilization, no resources save for whatever food they could scrounge up, and in addition, no real way off of the island.

Perhaps most perplexing of all was not why the island itself, but why did she choose him? He was a dragon, sure, and dragons were known for being able to do things even gifted unicorns would find impossible, but... why? Did he have something she needed specifically? Was there some sort of ritual where he'd have to do something? If there was, would it be bad?

"Spike," a voice said, snapping the dragon out of his thoughts. Looking up, he saw Celestia come into the cave, the bag she had made from her dress's sleeves nearly filled to bursting. "I see you're awake. Good; I need to tell you something."

"What's in the bag?" Spike asked groggily, rubbing his eyes as the princess laid out her harvest.

"Some cherries, wintergreen leaves, sugarcane, some wild rice, sedge, a few wild leeks," Celestia rattled off, playing out each type of food in its own little pile. "I'd say we have enough food here for at least a week, unless we strain ourselves, that is."

"Yeah, about that," the dragon said, turning to face Celestia completely. "I've been meaning to ask something. I didn't want to say it at first, but it's been bugging me like crazy, and I really want an answer."

Celestia paused for a few seconds, her face impassive. "Go ahead, Spike," she finally said. "Ask away."

"Well... why are we here? On this island?" Spike asked, watching Celestia's face carefully without looking like a total creeper doing so. "It is completely isolated, there's no real wildlife to speak of, and as you said before, nopony in the world knows it even exists. At first, this lead me to believe it was just hidden away until it was needed to save the world, but I doubt that is true."

"Well, the reason we are on this island are precisely the same as to what you just said," Celestia replied softly. "Isolated, uninhabited and far removed from the minds of the world; it is ideal."

"That is my second question; ideal for what?" Spike asked, crossing his arms. He did so not in anger or some other similar emotion, but as a relaxing gesture whilst thinking. "You said this island would help save the world, but from what I've seen, neither you nor anypony else has been to this island in forever. The time it takes to get out here, coupled with the way it is all naturally built, leads me to believe there are no structures here of any kind."

"The island is ideal for somepony to be alone from the rest of the world," Celestia responded. "Your deductions, although very Twilight-like in manner, are correct as well. There is nothing on this island that can aid us, and the island itself is merely just that; an island."

Spike inwardly blanched slightly at this; she was being awfully forward about this whole deal. Usually Celestia had some sort of grand vision or non-dubious scheme that would bring about a better future or result for everypony else, usually excluding herself from the fruits of said plan. But here, now? What was she getting at by being so forward?

"So then... why me?" Spike asked, unsure of what else to ask. She had pretty much shot down every other question he had thought of by simply telling him the apparent truth on the first two.

Celestia sat down and let her legs lay out besides her, as if she were reclining on a royal sofa. "Spike, you are the only one in all of Equestria to whom I could not only trust to complete this, but who would also do so selflessly and without want for some reward."

"Do what?" the dragon asked. "I am sure anypony out there couldn't refuse a direct request from you, even if they wanted to. You are the princess of the sun, after all. Who would say no to any request of yours?"

"That is just it, Spike," Celestia said softly, her tone sounding slightly sad. "I could not ask any other to do this, as I knew nopony would refuse. I could not choose them, no matter how magically inclined or intelligent; no matter how strong, or brave, or selfless. Why? Because I knew they would not survive, could not survive, what I would ultimately show them. I could not bear to have their death on my hands, even if it meant saving the world."

"Wait, survive?" Spike asked, visibly blanching at the word "survive". "Survive what?"

"Spike, you have lived in Ponyville long enough to notice things change around certain times of the year, yes?" the princess asked.

"Well, yeah, of course," the dragon mumbled, not sure where this conversation was veering off to. "Leaves change color and fall, birds migrate before and after winter, most flowers bloom in spring and early summer... you know, that stuff."

"I assume you have noticed how mares act during one especially troublesome time of the year?" Celestia knew such actions did not go unnoticed around the young dragon. Ponyville did, after all, have a rather sizeable population of mares, unlike some of the larger cities along the coast.

Spike put two and two together, and upon realization of what she meant, he blushed a bright crimson through his purple scales. "Oh, uh, yeah... the heat, they call it. Do you... do you get it too?"

"Yes Spike, all alicorns experience the same mating instinct as do pegasi, zebras, unicorns and earth ponies," the princess said, noticing how Spike's blush darkened slightly at the word "mating". "Alicorns however have very intense periods of heat, though they do not last as long and occur every one thousand years, so as to accommodate to our very extended biological life cycle. Compared to a normal mare's several-week long cycle, an alicorn's usually only lasts a few days; four or five at the most, with three being the average."

"So then... when was your last heat?" Spike asked, his blush somehow deepening even further than before at the word "heat". Would he ever become used to talking with Celestia about something like this?

"Approximately two and a half weeks short of one thousand years ago, give or take a few days," Celestia said calmly. Spike, on the other hand, looked anything but calm.

"So, uh... you needed me to help with your... heat?" he asked, his blush fading slightly as a realization dawned on him. "But... what about that solar whatever that's gonna kill us all? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything, Spike; it has to do with everything," the princess said as her wings folded and unfolded behind her. "I am tied to the sun, and as such, it fluctuates as I do. When I experience my heat, it can cause the sun to fluctuate greatly in both the inner and outer layers. The last time my heat occurred, that same type of solar ejection erased all life from Mars; it was all my fault, as this one will be as well unless we "do" something about it."

"Wait, there was life on Mars, and you killed it?" Spike asked, confused as well as embarrassed. It had been easier to simply believe the princess had no hand in what was going on with the sun, but now, in light of this new evidence, he had no idea what to believe anymore.

"Yes, though that no longer matters," Celestia said softly, her will refusing to let her eyes shed one single tear. "As I mentioned before, during our relatively brief reproductive bout, we become unstable in our earthly forms. I assume you have heard of where alicorns come from?"

"Well, yeah; from the stars," the dragon said, uncrossing his arms and instead folding them into his lap. "I thought those were all just myths and weird explanations for things ponies don't understand."

"No Spike; they are all true. Alicorns do come from the stars, and when the heat hits us in our earthly forms, we become very, very different from what we are now," the princess said, glancing out at the cave's entrance. "Are... are you mad? Mad at me for not telling you this sooner; for not confiding in you before we were stranded on this island?"

"Well, maybe; I don't... know," Spike said, his eyes inadvertently being drawn to Celestia's body as the thought of her in heat plagued his mind. "You... technically didn't lie to me, but you weren't entirely truthful, you know." Oh, this was so hard! He should be furious with her for not telling him outright, and yet... he wasn't. How could he be, after all? He, along with the rest of Equestria's population, was subconsciously influenced by the majority's belief that Celestia always had their best interests at heart. So, even in the light of this belief-altering evidence, he was having a really hard time trying to figure out exactly what to do.

"Yes, I do," Celestia said, looking back up at the dragon with a sincerely sorry look in her eyes. "Can you forgive your princess for not acting prudently when such an explanation would have been sufficient? I should have told you much sooner than this, but I was afraid of what might happen if you refused me."

"Well, I doubt I would have said no... gosh, this is hard," Spike muttered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Not at Celestia, no, but at himself: just what was he supposed to do? Tell the princess the deal was off and not help save the world? Act like a selfish moron and doom his friends to death?

"Yes; yes, I can say I honestly forgive you, but you'll have to make it up to me," the dragon said finally. "So, how am I supposed to help with your heat? Mate you or something?"

Celestia blushed slightly at his words. "Well, Spike, that is the general idea," she said softly. She almost wanted to say something along the lines of "when a mare and a stallion love each other very much", but ultimately decided against it; too inappropriate at a time like this.

Spike's blush returned slightly, but he seemed to be holding back pretty well in the princess's eyes. "Well, okay, but what... what do we do? I'm not exactly sure of... you know... that." Surely the princess had some sort of experience or knowledge of the subject... right?

"We will take it slow, as we will not technically need to... mate for some two and a half weeks," the princess said slowly. "However, that does not mean we cannot... learn more about each other."

Spike was silent for a few moments as his brain took time to process just what the princess was not only saying, but implying as well. He would have to sate the princess's heat in order to save the world. To be perfectly honest, the idea of sex for the first time terrified him, as he didn't exactly have anything to go on for when it came to the act. He was woefully a virgin, probably even more so than he realized, and if he messed up, he'd likely be embarrassed about it for the rest of his life.

Yet the more he thought of it, the more relaxed and intigued he became about the whole idea. Celestia was an unobtainable prize to any stallion, and even if the sex with her wasn't the best, he'd still be held in such high accord by stallions and mares alike for this dutiful service, that he'd likely have mares from all over throwing themselves at him. Who wouldn't want to bed the stud of a dragon that was specifically chosen by Celestia to provide her with some "personal time" on a deserted island? Stallions would want to buy him drinks and curry favors with him, as this little "rendezvous" with Celestia would likely put him on the upper end of the political spectrum. He would have to mate, to rut, to breed Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and princess of the sun, so that the world and by extension his friends, would live, and he himself would advance within society without having to sell his soul to do so.

He was rather okay with that, to be honest. "Okay, so... where do we begin? This is all rather new to me."

Celestia sat up and got on her knees, crawling over slowly to Spike. "Well, back by the river... I did kiss you," she said slowly as she drew herself up to the dragon. "It wasn't much of something at the time, but I would like to do it again."

Spike, in any normal situation, would have likely tried to retreat in both confusion and fright. Now though, knowing both what was at stake and (mostly) why the princess had chosen him in particular, he stayed put. "Yes, I think... that would be a good starting point," he said softly as Celestia pressed her body gently against him. Tenderly pulling her up so that her eyes were level with his, Spike gently puckered his lips. Celestia did the same, and gently pressed them against one another's. They closed their eyes and simply chose to revel in the feeling of being so close to one another.

Celestia could not help but revel in the surprising softness of Spike's lips. Like most of his outer body, they too were comprised of scales, but the sheer smallness of them rendered them as flexible, and thus as soft, as the skin of any pony. The latent heat that he gave off made them, in her mind, almost as smooth as silk, and though they were warm to the touch, it was a pleasant sort of warmth. His warm body, covered by her own, exuded not only heat, but an inner masculinity that even she had not been aware of when they had first lain together on the beach. Oh, it felt like it was weeks ago, when in fact it had only been about two days, but she could still remember the feeling of his against her then, and then again last night. But now, now that she told him the truth and he had accepted what he would need to do, she felt something different lying next to him; or on top of him, to be precise.

His shirt, torn to shreds first by the thorns and then more so by the rocks and boulders of the river, hid nothing from her. Celestia could feel his pectorals against her chest; not immensely large, since he did not partake in the sort of work that would develop chest muscles, but they were indeed broad and very firm. Her hands, holding herself close to him by grasping onto his shoulders, could feel knotted muscles move ever-so-slightly underneath, just waiting to be used. The sides of her arms, pressed against his own arms as she held on for the kiss, could feel his enlarged biceps and triceps move underneath his scales as his hands roamed over he back. Oh, those hands; large yet soft, timid yet confident. Their movement across her back sent pleasurable chills up and down her entire body.

Since their bodies were flush with one another, she could feel his abdominal muscles move beneath her with every breath he took through his nose. Each one was defined perfectly; not semi-obnoxiously bulging, but as one part of a series of muscles. The long, sinewy cords felt ridged, even under his scales. His waist, nowhere near as slender as hers but by no means large, felt strong and limber, as if it were used to carrying around a great weight all day long. Oh, who did she think she was fooling? It helped hold up his strapping, utterly attractive masculinity all day long!

In Spike's mind, he felt like he was on fire, in both body and mind. This was a curious thought, seeing as how dragons technically were burning within and were basically immune to fire, but to him the metaphor stood true. Celestia's lips were soft, softer than he remembered from the day before, and their silken touch sent unbidden tremors up his spine. The softness of her pelt around her lips did little to help those feelings, as the small hairs tickled the edges of his lips slightly.

He could feel her soft hands pulling her body closer to him, the weight settling onto his body with a surprisingly comfortable sensation. Her hips pressed against his own, the large but not fat muscles feeling utterly feminine, and attractive, to him. Her waist, slender and yet toned somehow, pressed against his own, the dress doing little to hide the fact she had a toned abdomen to boot.

But perhaps the most evident part of her femininity, or the two most evident parts, was pressed up against his chest. Her great globes, round and soft and all sorts of good, felt utterly foreign against his chest, but at the same time, so utterly fantastic. Her nipples pressed through the fabrics of her tattered dress and his shredded shirt, rubbing gently against his pectorals as they moved with the kiss. He could feel his body wanting to react to such a touch, but for the sake of his sanity, he held it back, though just barely.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two broke apart, their eyes opening as their lips parted ways.

"Well, uh..." was all Spike could say, the heat in his cheeks threatening to consume him.

"Yeah," Celestia replied, out of breath even though both she and Spike had been breathing through their noses the entire time. "Again?"

"Yes," Spike said immediately, pulling Celestia more firmly into him as their lips reconnected, a bit more passionately this time. Their hands pulling one another closer, the two pressed more firmly into one another, continuing to revel in the other's presence. Spike's forked tongue slipped past Celestia's lips and started to intertwine with her own, though the princess soon responded in kind, her tongue pulling on his own as if to draw him further in. As the kisses deepened, their embraces tightened as well, pushing their already tightly-compressed bodies against one another.

Spike, even amidst all of this much-wanted physical contact, felt the urge to remove his tattered shirt. It didn't mean anything to him anymore, and it was so tattered, it made no difference to him. He gently pushed Celestia away from him, their lips losing contact with one another's.

Celestia panicked slightly after Spike had pushed her away. Was she kissing him wrong? Was he having second thoughts about forgiving her? Was he-

He started tearing his shirt off, completely revealing his sculpted torso to the princess. Celestia's embarrassment immediately turned to intrigue and giddiness. As soon as the last shreds of the useless shirt were gone from Spike, she half-tackled him, pulling him as close to her as she could as their lips met again in a churning of passion and desire.

Celestia knew her body's response to Spike's body, and as such her own mind's response, was not some overly-complicated notion of courtly affection or political maneuvering; it was the reaction when a pony had found the one they wished to breed them. Her alicorn mating instincts, though long overdue for a test drive, were starting to make themselves known to her. Her inhibitions were less guarded, her mind becoming more observant of the dragon's physical presence, the daydreams she began experiencing of Spike coming upon her and having his way with-

"Ooh," she moaned into Spike's mouth as their tongues continued to wrestle one another, their saliva exchanging once more. Breaking apart after a few more minutes, she settled herself on Spike's chest, her hands propping up her head, her mane falling elegantly past her shoulders and over their bodies.

"Spike, while I do wish to continue, I need to ask you two things," she said, her voice sounding dreamy, even to her. She felt lighter than air after their kissing marathon, and sincerely wanted to continue. Her wings were starting to feel the effects of Spike's roaming hands and would likely soon experience what she had overheard the Wonderbolt captain Spitfire refer to as a "wingboner".

"Yes?" Spike said in reply, his own voice sounding spine-tinglingly husky. Oh wow, he sounded so sexy in that tone; she would have to ask him to talk like that more often.

"Have you ever kissed another pony before?" She needed to know, as that sure felt like some good lip-to-lip contact in her mind. It would have been downright funny, or sad, depending on how one saw it, if Spike had more expreience with kissing than she, a many millennia-old princess.

Spike was silent for a few moments, as if his brain were trying to regain blood-flow and redirect precious energy back into his thinking abilities. "Well, uh... no, not like this," the dragon said softly. "I mean, I've been kissed on the cheek and returned that same kind of affection, but this... this is something I've never experienced before. What about you?"

"No Spike, I too have never had the pleasure of kissing somepony like this," Celestia responded, lightly tracing the outline between Spike's pectoral muscles with one gentle finger. She could feel his heartbeat through his muscles and scales when she reached the upper part of his ribcage. "I have kissed knights and such on the head, as a sign of my gratitude for an accomplished mission or to bestow my royal favor upon them, but I have never been so... intimate with somepony before. I must say, you're... rather good at it; kissing, that is."

Plus ten points to Spike's ego; the princess of the sun thought he was a good kisser! Sure, she didn't have any experience to draw upon personally, but that didn't matter... right? "Oh, I, uh... you're not so bad yourself, Celestia," Spike said softly, cupping her chin and giving her a small, tantalizing peck on her lower lip. "So... want to continue?" He felt like he could do this all day, and in a not-so-small part of his brain, he really wanted to.

"I would love to, Spike," the princess said slowly, pressing the palms of her hands against his chest.

"I'm sensing a "but" in there somewhere," the dragon said in a bit of a disappointed tone. Oh well; maybe they could continue "learning about each other" sometime later. They didn't have to worry about food for a while now, judging from how much the princess had brought back.

"But... we ought to keep moving," the princess said, removing herself from Spike's personal space, even though her body protested such an action. "We can't stay in this cave; there's a much better place for us to stay, high up in that volcano. A secluded place with plenty of food, fresh water and anything else we may need. Plus, it is a bit cramped in here for what we must... do later, don't you think?"

Spike glanced around the cave, sighing as he did so. She did have a rather valid point; if they were going to do this, and if it was going to be anything like what he had heard about offhand from mares at the market, they'd need quite a bit of room indeed, and this cave was far too small for such... activities. "I guess so," he said, rising to his feet as Celestia rose to her hooves. "How long do you think it will take to get to this secluded little alcove of yours? It's not exactly just an afternoon's walk from here, judging from how large this island truly is." That, and the fact there was likely another obstacle somewhere out there for them to conquer made him think the journey would likely take even longer than he predicted.

"I am not sure, but it can't take us more than three or four days, depending on the weather," the princess said, handing him the bag of food as he walked over to her. "Do not worry, Spike; we will have plenty more opportunities to... explore one another until the time is required for us to save the world."

"Right, yeah, about that," Spike said as they exited the cave. By now, the fog enshrouding the island had lifted entirely, and much of the dew had already been absorbed by the numerous plants. "Can I ask you something about that?"

"Yes; there will be no more secrets between us on this journey, Spike," Celestia said. "I am sorry there were in the beginning, but now you shall know everything you wish to."

"Right," the dragon said. "When you picked me for this, did my dragon heritage have anything to do with the decision-making process? You did say regular ponies wouldn't be able to... handle you when your heat hit in full force."

Celestia looked him square in the eyes, but in a somewhat sweet manner. "Of course, Spike," the princess said, quickly giving him a small peck on the cheek before walking ahead. "You were the only one I could select for this "task", so to speak."

"Why, exactly?" Spike asked as he followed her away from the cave and out towards the end of the forest. It would not be far for them to go, but it would still likely take some time to leave this thickly-grown place behind.

"A very simple reason, my dear friend," Celestia said as they walked through the forest. "Dragons simply cannot burn."

Spike didn't know what to say to that.


	7. Filthy Waters

Chapter Seven

Filthy Waters

"Well, at least we are out of the forest," Spike said as Celestia and he trudged through the grasses, the long fronds slightly slippery under their feet and hooves. "I have to say I didn't expect the grass to be this high or thick, though."

"Neither did I," Celestia said. "The last time I was on this island, there was only a small patch of the stuff that I had personally planted, and it wasn't nearly as close to the forest as it is now."

"Well, it grew in just fine," Spike grumbled as he nearly fell for the third time. The grasses reminded him of those grasses from one of Twilight's book on the lands far to the east, where monsoons ravaged the lands for months on end every year. As such, the ecosystem there, animals and plants included, had grown accustomed to such things by evolving means to survive and even thrive in such conditions.

They continued on in the tall grasses for a while, the sun blazing high overhead. The foliage, slick with dew and residual rain from the night before, soon gave way to much shorter grasses, as well as the occasional shrub and low-lying vine. They had finally reached the fields they had first seen high above, when the carriage was still intact and Spike still had spare clothes packed. They seemed to stretch on for ages up to the very base of the volcano, and even where the grasses ended and the rocky shale began, there were still sizeable patches of green.

However, in the middle of this utterly green pasture, there lay a rather dark brown smudge. The almost daily rains had caused something similar to a mudslide crossed with a sinkhole, though nowhere near as calamitous as either occurrence. Instead, a long winding pathway of mud lay stretched out before them, about hallway across the otherwise serene grasslands.

"How are we going to cross that?" Spike asked Celestia as they strode down one of the innumerable small hills all over the place. In fact, the likely source of the mudflow-like obstacle was the collapse of one of these hills farther up the way they were going, though it had been far larger before the rains came and practically melted it down.

"I say we just hoof it across," Celestia said, her heart feeling lighter with the absence of any secrets. "It does not look too wide, I believe." In light of her revelation to Spike and his acceptance of his role in her plan, she'd discovered a sort of clarity in her mind she did not recall having before. To be so utterly truthful to somepony, or somedragon, in this instance, was not only spiritually and mentally liberating, but rather physically moving as well. She felt stronger because of it, as if she were not only relieved of a burden, but of a choice as well.

That choice had opened up doors to her with Spike she had not planned on exploring for another week or two, originally. Learning to kiss him had been good fun and all, but her body was showing signs of the beginning of her heat. It was not yet in force, and likely would not be for some time yet, but still: her body had needs, and she'd have to sate them eventually, with each "satiation" likely requiring more and more stimulus to "complete the transaction", or something along those lines. How much of that Spike did was up to him and how far he was willing to go: how far she was willing to go was entirely up to her, of course. She could probably stop, push Spike to the ground, and command him to make love to her right then and there; he likely wouldn't bat an eye at that.

However, therein laid a problem: she could not be too forceful in seeking sex from him, since she had no idea just how forceful "forceful" was in her case, and any random actions like that from her might just scare Spike. She couldn't afford him to have doubts on himself or any techniques he might try and use, as a depressed dragon wasn't a horny dragon. Celestia would need Spike horny for any of this to work. But how to draw him out of his societally acceptable shell and into that of a sexy beast was currently beyond her brain's capabilities. She'd need time to think of a way that would not trick him, but would also not require something drastic or just downright uncivilized.

Spike, during this time, was also thinking rather hard on the task ahead of him. He'd have to make love to Princess Celestia, something he had never done before. True, nearly all stallions and likely a not-insignificant portion of Equestria's mares would love to be in his position, but therein lay a problem for him. What was he supposed to do? Just... whip it out, stick it in and hope for the best?

"No, that would be horrible," Spike thought to himself, wondering why in the world that train of thought had derailed into such a... lewd mess. Spike knew little of the world of sex, mostly since he had never been sought after by any mares close to his age. Well, sought after being a strong word: he had plenty of mares his own age who were his friends, and some certainly seemed to like him more than others, but... had he been so blind to the ways of the fairer sex that he hadn't picked up on any signals?

Maybe living with Twilight had desensitized him to all forms of interpersonal communication. He had a horrible time picking up on subtle clues; he just knew it. Plus, the closest thing to a discussion on sex he had ever heard come from Twilight when she had broken up with some guard stallion. What was his name again? Blast Sentry, Crash Sentry... something like that. All Spike knew was that he was related to that Flash Sentry stallion Twilight had somewhat befriended during an extended stay in Canterlot, though it more like a friendly acquaintance than an actual friendship.

He could still remember the night of the break-up with that guy's brother. Sometimes he wished he couldn't.

"Brash," - that was his name- "I am afraid we can no longer see each other. This just isn't working out for me."

"But why, Twilight? I kept my promise and showed up to your boring history lesson!"

"Yeah, half drunk! You kept hitting on Fluttershy and started drooling into the punch bowl. Plus, you kept looking down my blouse when you sat next to me!"

"I can't help it if my strenuous lifestyle means I can't spend more personal time with you. You never did seem interested in taking anything to a new level."

"Strenuous? You mooch off of your brother's guard status and spend everything you somehow manage to earn on alcohol or unhealthy snacks! Besides, you certainly seemed to want to make relationships with all those mares down by the spa, the way you were showing off in front of them. You almost got us kicked out!"

"Hey, I apologized for that. It's not my fault they forgot to label which naked spa steam rooms are for stallions and which are for mares."

"They were in big green letters, Brash; there were even pictures."

"I'm colorblind, and those pictures weren't there when I was."

"Just... get out, please, before I have Spike set you on fire."

"Yeah, right, like that little wimp could take on a stud like me. Not even in your dreams, Twilight!"

"Yeah, well, he's a damn sight nicer than you, you needle-dick prick! You never could have satisfied me, even if we had gone that far!"

After that, Twilight had magically teleported the guy out into a patch of briars on Ponyville's outskirts and then wrote a scathing letter to Flash Sentry on his brother's behavior. Last Spike heard, Brash was scrubbing toilets in Appaloosa: the outhouse kind of toilets.

Readjusting the bag of food on his shoulder, Spike looked ahead to see Celestia bending over to pick something up. It was perhaps at the worst possible time, too, as her dress, already shorter than when they had left Ponyville, did little to conceal her rump. Spike looked quickly away, but the damage was done; all of his thoughts on him and his life in Ponyville was swept under the rug. Then the rug was burned, made into a park bench through the recycling process, and then that bench was dissolved in a vat of rainbow acid.

Celestia, or the one he used to know from Canterlot, likely would not have been the one picking something up off of the ground. It just wasn't befitting a princess, especially one so loved as her. Here, though, she wasn't the same pony who had brought him to the island. Here, she had not only been saved by him, had helped him along the way and told him the truth of his "upcoming duty", but she had exposed herself for the being she was. She wasn't just some nigh-deity figure with the power of the sun; she wasn't just one of the most politically powerful beings on the planet. No, she was a mare; she had thoughts, dreams, desires, temptations, feelings, and the whole shebang. And now, for the first time since he had been on that island, Spike felt truly horrible about himself.

All he had seen in her back in the cave, even though it had only been a few hours ago, was a way for him to advance in society; a means to an end. He hadn't given a thought to how she felt about this, or how worried she was about the whole "ordeal" that was going to come up between them. Her royal duties and such had caused her to close herself off from those close to her over the many years she had been alive, even Twilight Sparkle. Sure, Twilight was her pupil, and they were very close, as were the other Elements of Harmony, but Spike doubted Celestia had even shared a modicum of the information with them as she had with him.

Spike now realized that Celestia was more than just an up-and-coming sexual conquest; they would be so much more than a mere fling. Even if it was just this once, for only this small period of time, both of them would be forever changed by the instance. They would be lovers, the kind that even romance novels could seldom talk about. Brought together by fate, both choosing to do so even if it meant forever changing a friendship that was important in both of their lives; it amazed him.

It gave him courage.

"Spike?" Celestia asked, snapping the dragon out of his little line of thought. "Is there something wrong?"

"Um... no," Spike said, having realized he had stopped walking after seeing Celestia' bum. She, on the other hand, must have continued walking, as she was a good deal farther away than she had been. "Just... thinking about something."

"May I ask what?" the princess queried as the dragon caught up with her.

"I'd... I'd prefer not to say," Spike said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's... kind of embarrassing."

"Spike, we agreed there would be no more secrets between us," Celestia said as they continued on, the large area of mud coming closer and closer with each step. "I have honored my end of that agreement: I would prefer if you kept up your end."

Spike sighed; he really couldn't say no to her, now could he? She had exposed her innermost feelings to him back in that cave, and now... perhaps he would have to do the same. "Well, Celestia, the thing is... I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what, Spike?" Celestia asked, arching an eyebrow as she face him.

"For... thinking like I did back in the cave. When you proposed to me on what we were meant to do here, I... looked at my options. I saw myself becoming rather well-off after being your, well, bedfellow, since I'd be a literal hero and sudden stud throughout Equestria. I, at the time, did not think about how you were feeling, or how this would change things for you. For that, I'm... I'm sorry."

Celestia was silent for a few moments, as if deep in thought. Then, breaking into a wide grin, she leaned over and gave Spike a kiss on the corner of his lips. "Oh Spike, that is perhaps one of the most honestly apologetic things I have ever heard," she practically cooed. "I understand thinking such things would go along with this "proposition" of ours, but I did not imagine you would come forth so clearly, or so quickly, for that matter. Most ponies would rather keep something like that to themselves, but you, a dragon? A hoarding species is not known for the blunt truth, but telling me this just goes to show you have a strength of character so many of your species lacks."

Spike blushed slightly at this. "So... you're not mad for me thinking like that?"

"Of course not, Spike! It would be only natural for any male in your position to weigh such options," Celestia said, giving him a light pat on his shirtless back. "I do not hold it against you, and I never will. To be perfectly honest myself, I too was wondering just how many different adjustments you'd have to make in your life after this. To think, Spike, lover of Celestia! I could see the tabloids running such headlines for a good year or two, with every little meeting between us or our friends being discussed behind closed doors. Tell me, do you think you could handle the fame of being the sudden object of desire from nearly every mare in our country?"

Spike's blush deepened at this. "Probably not," he said, realizing just how much truth there was behind Celestia's words.

"And what of outside countries?" Celestia continued. "Griffonesses and minotaur cows would likely swoon if you came through on your way to someplace. Perhaps... even garner some attention from the changelings?"

Spike's semi-grin turned to a look of absolute horror as these revelations hit home. However, that look soon turned back to a grin when he saw Celestia's smile. "None of that will happen, I'm guessing?" he asked.

"Likely not, though even I cannot predict the future," Celestia said in a semi-mysterious manner, as if she were trying to pretend to be a fortune-teller. It came off more as though she were tripping on some mildly-hallucinogenic mushrooms.

They laughed, walking hand-in hand for the rest of the way. Soon enough, although too soon for Spike's tastes, they reached the large muddy deposit. It didn't stink too badly, to be honest: just the regular smell of mud and whatever bits of matter made up it.

"I'll go first," Celestia said. "That way, if I find myself in need of a rescue, you won't be far behind me."

"Well... okay," Spike said, watching carefully as Celestia stepped forward.

Celestia, in her mind, knew Spike would likely have more trouble than she did. He did outweigh her by a bit, and his tail would likely drag behind him should he stumble or have to crawl on all fours. Stepping out away from Spike, she placed her hoof down on the mud. It felt cool to the touch, and to her surprise, she only sank in a few inches. Taking another step, she pulled her first hoof out of the mud and continued on, glancing back over her shoulder long enough to give Spike a "come on, let's go" gesture.

Spike followed Celestia's path, making sure to take care with each and every step. He could tell his steps sank in a bit further than hers, but other than that, he wasn't having much difficulty. "How do you think this mud all formed here?" he asked.

"Likely outwash from these storms, though why here, I don't know," Celestia replied as she trudged onwards. "Any problems?"

"No," Spike said just as he stumbled, dropping to one knee in the mud. Pushing himself up with his one free hand (as the other was holding onto the food bag), Spike wiped as much sticky mud off of it as he could on the back of his pants.

Out in front, Celestia took a step and almost fell when she sank up to her knee. "Spike, be careful it gets deeper out here," she said.

"Then maybe I should go first," the dragon said, stumbling past the alicorn mare. "Here: want to hold the food for a bit? I feel like I might stumble if it gets any deeper."

Gingerly, Celestia took the bag from Spike, who strode out in front of her. True to his prediction, he fell, mud splattering everywhere from where he impacted the watery ground. Rising up, he wiped some of the dark mud out his eyes and looked back.

"See? It gets deeper here." As if to illustrate, he stood back up and began to slowly sink further into the mud.

"How much deeper?" Celestia asked as she took a few tentative steps after Spike. He hadn't sunk too much farther, but it was still definitely deeper than what she had started across.

"I'd say... a bit above my waist," Spike told her. "Though, it's nowhere near as thick as the mud back behind us. Maybe there's just a lot more water in this part?"

"Possibly," Celestia replied as they continued on their way. The mud now completely coated her legs, and soon enough, mud was everywhere under her bust line. It stuck easily enough, but seemed a bit harder to fling off than one might expect. Overcorrecting a slight stumble, Celestia's wings were soon coated in mud as well.

So the duo continued on, falling and crawling their way to the other side of the large mud deposit. By the end of it, they looked absolutely disgusting, or at least they would have to clean, high-society ponies. Mud caked almost every part of their bodies, except for Celestia's face and Spike's uppermost spines. Spike couldn't even see his pants under all the mud, and his tail was dragging through the grass after he accepted the surprisingly still-clean food bag from Celestia.

"How far to that waterfall, do you think?" Spike asked, pointing to one of the many smaller, less-violent torrents of water cascading off the side of the volcano.

"Half an hour, maybe less," Celestia panted, her wings dropping behind her like they were the ears of a depressed dog. Wow, did they ever feel heavy with all that mud coating them.

"When we get there, think you can conjure us some soap?" the dragon asked as they walked on, occasional bits of mud dropping off of them as they went. "I feel like I got mud in places I didn't think dragons had."

"I feel the same way," Celestia said, annoyed by how much mud had gotten in both her mane and tail. If any of her groom ponies, let alone Spike's friend Rarity, had seen her in this state, they would have likely had heart attacks. "I have a feeling our clothes are completely useless now, with what we've put them through."

"Agreed," Spike said. "So... where do we find new ones? Do we make some out of leaves or something?"

Celestia glanced over at Spike, the unbidden inner monologue of her secondary conscience ringing in her ears. She tried to ignore it, but it was a persistent conscience, and after giving in, remained quiet for some time. It was crazy, perhaps even clever, but she knew it had to be done.

"Celestia?" Spike asked after they had nearly reached the smaller waterfall. Oh, that cascading water would probably feel wonderful on their mud-caked bodies. Hopefully it wasn't too cold like the river it connected to, or else Celestia might catch a chill, and Spike certainly didn't want that.

"Spike, it comes to my attention that if we are to truly understand each other on a physical level, then we must remove the barriers between us, as we did with our feelings and secrets," Celestia said as they climbed the small hill leading to a pool of water. The rocks in the pool had been shaped by the water, but apparently not for long, as they were still rough enough to prevent them from being slippery. Small wildflowers and grasses grew along the periphery, with the occasional bit of moss-covered stone strewn about the place. With it being mostly in the shadow of the extinct volcano, there was little chance any wind managed to brush through this place, so the chance of being chilled by wind was negligible. All in all, it was a rather picturesque scene, like something out of a romantic novel.

"Meaning?" Spike asked as he turned away, trying to find the hem of his pants under all the mud coating him. Damn, a lot of it must have been inside his pants as well: it was rubbing all over the place as he searched, and that felt... weird.

"Meaning... we shall have to disregard clothes entirely," Celestia said. As if to enforce her words, she tore her mud-caked, completely useless dress from her body. It didn't matter much in the way of cleanliness, at any rate; there was more than enough mud all over her body that had wormed its way under the dress

Spike had frozen at the sound of the ripping fabric. She... she was serious, wasn't she? Here he knew he'd be having sex with her, someday, eventually even, but the prospect of bathing with a naked Celestia set Spike on an course he was unsure he wanted to continue on. He was torn; torn between the unbelievably strong desire to agree with the princess, and the desire to hide any part of his private nakedness from her, as well as shield his own eyes from her body. "... really?" he decided to asked instead, glad his voice didn't crack from the sudden strain.

"Yes, Spike," Celestia said, conjuring up a large bar of soap with a small burst of her magic. "Please, come join me in the waterfall; there are places I cannot reach on my back that are surely coated with pounds of mud." Plus, she didn't want to admit it, but there was something very attractive of being cleaned by another under a waterfall; call it her inner romantic side, if you will.

Spike gave up trying to find his pants under all the mud, and so turned around, keeping his eyes fixed on the water. That stopped when he saw Celestia walk under the waterfall, and change before his eyes.

He had seen her in her dress, skin-tight and whatnot, but it had never really done the job of showing off... everything. She was coated in mud, completely covered in the stuff, and yet... Spike did not find that unappealing. Her figure, her stature, the way she carried herself as she washed the mud from her mane... it made him feel rather peculiar below the waistline. Drawn to her, almost like a sailor drawn to the mythical sirens of old, he too stepped under the falling water, just as Celestia turned around.

She had not expected to see Spike so close to her, nor had she expected his eyes to be filled with... something. She could not put her finger on exactly what emotion she was seeing, even as Spike reached up and gently took the bar of soap from her hands. He looked... different, under all of that softly cascading water. It wasn't enough to wash all of the mud away from him, but from what she could tell, the majority was rushing down into the pool around their knees. "May I wash you, my princess?" he asked, his voice much lower in tone than a few minutes ago.

The chill that went down her spine had nothing to do with the water's temperature. "Y-yes, Spike," she said, turning around to give him better access to her back. "You c-can start anywhere you wish; I don't mind." Celestia nearly felt her legs buckle from underneath her when Spike's strong hand began to gently knead the base of her wings. Now, Celestia's wings had recovered to their former strength, and so she was feeling lighter when she walked. Spike's hands along the base of them, however, made her tail nearly stand on end. Celestia had always washed herself in private, ever since she was too old for her mother to wash her in their tub. It had been a challenge at first, learning how to get at all the spots her hands couldn't reach, but after practicing with some magic, she had gotten the hang of it. She knew which parts of her body were more sensitive than others, and right now, Spike was just casually rubbing up and down her wings like he didn't know of that sensitivity. He was soft, all right, tickling here and there without applying too much pressure, but Celestia... dear stars above, his touch was driving her up the walls.

"Celestia," Spike whispered softly, just loud enough to be heard over the splashing of the water. His hands gently glided up and down the feathers of her wings, making sure to get his soapy fingers between each and every cluster of sensitive feathers.

"Y-yes, Spike?" Celestia asked, her body reacting to his touch. Alicorns, unlike normal pegasi and winged unicorns, did not experience "wing-boners" too often. Even less like them, an alicorn did not need sexual stimulation to be rid of such a condition, something that the Wonderbolts found to be an all-too-common source of frustration. However, their bodies did react in very much the same way, and Celestia could feel that happening. Her nerves were bristling in her skin, sensitized and yearning for the dragon's caresses; her wings began to stiffen, sticking straight out of her back like some sort of ship's sails. Her nipples, still slightly covered in mud, swelled up and grew rigid, puffing out from her pert breasts like a pair of not-so-little pink signs, saying "come touch me" or something along those lines.

"Done," Spike said softly into Celestia's ear, snapping her out of her little self-discovering journey. He was done with her wings already? She didn't want him to stop; she needed more of his touch. It was driving her completely mad, and she loved every second of it. His nimble fingers, having spent years flipping through pages and scribbling down Twilight's messages, were divine upon her body.

"Can you... can you scrub my lower back? Please?" she asked, not wanting to admit that she sounded like she was begging. She was a princess: she did not beg, she did not plead, she did not... oh, to Tartarus with that line of thought! She needed his touch all over her body; she wanted to feel his fingertips dance across her pelt like gentle flames. The water cascading over their bodies was cool, not cold, and yet it did little to alleviate the warmth rushing through her body. If Spike had been face-to-face with her then and there, he would have been seeing her blushing tremendously.

"Okay," Spike said, back, looking down as his hands worked their way along her spine. He could feel Celestia tremble under his touch as he lathered up the small of her back, the softness of her pelt feeling divine under his hands. The mud scrubbed out easily enough with the fair application of soap, revealing more and more of her white, pristine pelt. Spike's hands travelled further down, caressing the uppermost curves of the princess's royal rump.

If Spike had to describe Celestia's rear as he washed the outside of it, several words could aptly do it justice. Plump, soft, round, firm; all of these were more than adequate enough to describe Celestia's flank. Laying sudsy hands on both sides, where her cutie mark shone like the miniature sun it was, he gently pressed the two large globes together, watching them squeeze up against one another like a pair of two large balloons. Letting them go, he watched them bounce back into place in a rather hypnotizing fashion. Spike would admit he was a fan of breasts; always had been, and always would be. But in his draconic ancestry, males had always been attracted to larger posterior, which made better for the carriage and subsequent internal protection of eggs. He was no different; Celestia's glorious ass had him losing almost all conscious thought as he continued to scrub her back clean.

Celestia could barely stand upright as Spike caressed her backside. She felt the urge to tell him to slap her, to make her flesh jiggle and bounce beneath soft blows, but her mouth refused to say such words. He was taking initiative as he washed her cutie mark; that wasn't where she had asked him to wash. "Spike," she choked out, nearly crying out when his hands found her slender waist and washed up her sides.

"Yes, my princess?" Spike asked, his voice silky smooth as his hands continued their journey upwards. He was no longer in control of his own actions; his mind had been taken over by an instinct as old as hunger, and at times, far more powerful.

Celestia couldn't even find the words to reprimand him for calling her by her title. "I... I wish for you-," she began, only for her words to die in her throat. Spike's hand's upon having travelled up her sensitive sides, had curled around and found themselves cupping her breasts. He hefted the weight of the globes as if he were a watermelon salesman judging a good crop. Teasing, almost drumming his fingers on their soft undersides; the sheer feeling of his caresses drove a soft whinny to escape from Celestia's lips. The princess tilted her head back, mouth agape at the feelings, only for Spike to press his own lips against hers. For a moment, time seemed to stand still for Celestia as her mind was assaulted by this tag-team of embraces, and then she responded in kind. Raising her arms up and reaching them behind her, she pulled Spike's head in closer, intensifying the pressure of the kiss. Unknowingly, or perhaps her intention all along, this gave Spike's hands more room to maneuver, which he used to his advantage immediately.

His hands gently squeezed her breasts, deforming them under his touch. Sliding his hands along them, he took both of his thumbs and forefingers and pinched them around Celestia's pert, utterly hypersensitive nipples. Celestia nearly kicked out when he rolled them between said thumbs and forefingers, teasing the large buds as their lips mashed against each other. His torso, clean from the mud, pressed itself firmly against her back and wings, the heat and smoothness of his scales contrasting sharply against the lush pelt of her back. Her wings, still sensitive from his ministrations, were trapped out at her sides by his bulk.

Celestia felt as though her body was on fire, even as her mind struggled to catch up and acknowledge just all that was happening. The soap from Spike's hands cascaded down her breasts and along her stomach, which heaved with every struggling breath the princess took. Her lungs burned for want of oxygen, but her body wanted Spike more than air, and even though she could still breathe through her nose, she had apparently forgot how to do so.

They broke apart suddenly, Celestia stumbling away slightly; her body cried out in agony as it felt Spike's presence leave her by herself. Turning around, she saw Spike's eyes change back to what they had been like a mere minute before they had wandered into the pool. He looked around, as if confused, and that was when Celestia knew what had happened.

Spike had tapped, unknowingly by the looks of it, into his inner alpha male. The way his hands had so causally and yet knowingly traced themselves up and down her body, the way he had somehow known what parts of her body would, upon stimulation, make her feel the greatest sources of pleasure. He remembered what happened, judging from the somewhat horrified look on his face, but was it possible he hadn't been entirely under the control of his own inner masculinity? Had there been some modicum of control, to where he had been who she was speaking to when they, admittedly few times, exchanged words during her "cleaning", and not his inner dragon?

"Spike?" Celestia asked, approaching the dragon. "Are... are you all right?"

Obviously not, judging from how he hid his eyes at the sight of her nakedness. "No, Celestia, I'm so sorry, I didn't know what was going on. I couldn't control myself; please forgiv-," he said in a rush, only for him to cease blabbering upon the contact of Celestia's finger on his lips.

"Spike, it is all right," she said softly, gazing into his frantic and admittedly adorable eyes. "That was rather incredible, though I should think it is your turn to be washed. May I?" she asked, her smile sweet but her thoughts drifting off to somewhere in particular on him that needed washing. Oh, she was such a dirty mare on this island!

"Um, uh... o-okay," Spike said, tensing up as Celestia's hands brushed against his chest. He hadn't even noticed her taking the bar of soap from him, nor had he noticed his back and chest were already clean from the water. Still, he couldn't help but watch in rapt fascination as Celestia's breasts jiggled in front of him as she scrubbed his scales.

To say they were flawless would have been a grave insult; they were beyond perfection. He could write songs, ballads, even poems about how they moved, but that side of his brain was either asleep or not focused at the moment. The way they swayed from side to side as Celestia scrubbed his upper abdominal muscles, the way they bounced when she washed him up and down. The water dripping off of them drew his gaze further down, past her taught stomach and down to her...

"Oh my," Spike thought, a blush blazing through his face with such ferocity he felt as though fire was come out of his very pores. Celestia's lower body was cleansed of mud, and without her dress, nothing was hidden from him; nothing. Puffy pink lips, surrounded by the stunningly white pelt of her gorgeous legs and taut lower abdomen, glanced up at him every time Celestia's breasts moved out of the way. He could smell her body in ways he hadn't known somepony could be detected; his brain, nostrils and blood were boiling with something he was scared of describing. Then, like a minute muscle spasm, he felt something stir beneath his waistline, and even though it was perhaps one of the most perfect times in history for this to happen to him, he suddenly did not want it to happen.

"What? No, boner, stay down, stay down!" he commanded in his mind.

"No," was the reply.

Celestia, having scrubbed Spike's torso clean of any and all muddy residue, continued her way down to where, had he been a mammal, his navel would be. His abs sparkled in the light of the sun's rays as they penetrated through the cascading water, the rigid muscles defined more so than when she had been looking before. Perhaps he was tense? Idly continuing her scrubbing, she reached for surely where the hem of his pant was, only to find... more scales. "Spike, I think you lost your pants in the mud," Celestia said, keeping her tone absentminded even as her mind raced wildly with what this could mean. "Your underwear as well," she added.

Spike's eyes went wide with shock as a sudden extra surge of water swamped the pair of them, the waterfall's might doubling for a few short seconds before it receded back to its much gentler state.

Celestia, brushing her mane out of her eyes and sneezing a little from the water droplets that had entered her nose, looked up to see most of the mud had been washed away from Spike's lower body. Indeed, her theory had been correct; his pants and indeed any underwear he had been wearing were gone, likely a victim of that muddy deposition they had wandered through. His toned thighs stood out, along with...

"Oh my," Celestia said, her eyes locking onto perhaps the stiffest part of Spike's anatomy. His... well, his dragon shaft stood out, proud and rigid and utterly swollen. It almost looked painful, seeing as it twitched every now and then, as if it were a snake preparing to strike. "An anaconda, by the looks of it," Celestia muttered to herself, her hands diligently at her sides as she just gazed at the sight before her. Spike's dragon balls hung pendulously underneath his obsidian-hard arousal, each one easily bigger than a tennis ball.

She had not expected this to happen so... suddenly, even with her "command" that they no longer be separated by clothes or secrets. Here she had thought it would take time and a bit of effort for Spike to show himself in such a state before her. Secretly, she was glad she had been wrong in assuming that. "Spike, is that your tail, or are you just happy to see me?" she asked, smiling sweetly as a little bit of drool rolled out of the corner of her mouth. Good gracious, her body had taken one look at that thing and had gone completely insane. It was taking all of her willpower to not just push him over and drop her awaiting marehood right down onto that thick piece of meat. Her heat wasn't in full bloom yet, but at that moment, it sure felt like it was.

Spike gulped at that, not able to crack a smile as he looked between his cock and Celestia's face, her gaze evident enough. He felt as though he would die from embarrassment. "I... I don't... I'm so-,"

"Spike, you have no reason to be sorry, just as you have no reason to be sorry for cleaning me up so well just a few moments ago," Celestia said softly as she reached out with both of her hands. "Biology is nothing to ashamed of, my young dragon friend. By the way, you are still a tad dirty, Spike; may I finish cleaning you up?"

Spike gulped again, feeling light-headed from the sheer amount of blood that was no longer flowing into his brain. "S-s-sure," he finally managed to say. Any other words died in his throat when he saw Celestia's hand shoot out and place themselves at his groin. One had grabbed onto his shaft and could barely enclose half of its girth in its grip. The other had snaked under and was gently holding onto his dragon balls, gently kneading them with soapy fingers so as to remove any remaining mud.

"Spike, I know this may sound odd to you, but you are most... gifted specimen," Celestia whispered as she pressed her breasts against his chest, her hands not leaving his cock and balls. Her lower body, however, did not press up against his own; it was more off to the side slightly.

Spike's curiosity raged for a single moment before being delegated to the back of his mind. He was big... down there? Really? Here he had thought it normal for a cock to be as large as his. It wasn't like anypony else had ever seen it besides him and now... Princess Celestia. Wow, the princess had not only seen him entirely naked, but was gently caressing him; the movement of her soft hands made his tail stand straight out behind him, mirroring his "second tail" in front of him.

"That, and I have never had the pleasure of handling such gifted anatomical parts before," Celestia said, unaware of just how stimulating her actions were on the poor dragon. Had she known, perhaps she would have taken it easier on the poor guy.

Wow, when Celestia talked like Twilight, it was such a turn-on for the young dragon. Perhaps, unknowingly, Spike found beauty and brains to be equally attractive qualities, though it was hard for him to separate the two sometimes. Spike felt as though he could barely breathe as her hands tag-teamed his most precious bodily pieces. If he had sweat glands, surely he would have just had buckets of the stuff rolling down his body, disguised by the amount of water cascading over his scales. In fact, the water, Celestia's soft hands and the ministrations they were performing on him proved to be too much for the young dragon to bear.

"Celesta, I... I... please, I," he managed to sputter out, something inside of him breaking free of the cage of restraint he had placed it in. His pulse, already quick, surged for a brief moment, and he saw small flecks of imagined light enter his vision. Spike felt like he was going choke on his own spit; it was as if his throat was closing in on itself from the release inside of him.

"Yes, Spike?" Celestia asked, looking Spike deep into his eyes with her own, heavy-lidded ones. She heard him grunt, saw his face screw up in concentration, and then felt something incredibly warm flow over her hand. Looking down, she saw Spike ejaculating everywhere, his thick dragon cum spewing from the flared head of his dick like some sort of mini volcano. It was warm, all right; far warmer than the water flowing over them or even Spike's latent exuded heat. Some of it squirted a good two feet out, landing in the running water with obscene, sizable splashes. The rest flowed out and ran along the underside of his dick, coating her hand in thick, creamy seed.

He finished a few seconds later, the torrent reducing itself to a mere trickle as the proud shaft receded down to a softer and smaller though no less impressive state, dropping towards the ground like a hanging bat. Celestia removed her hands from Spike's groin as he looked away, apparently ashamed that he had ejaculated so early from her stimulation. The water washed the remainder of cum and little traces of mud the princess's that remained, so that both of them were nice and clean.

Celestia, however, glanced at one of her cum-coated fingers and became rather curious. They would undoubtedly explore each other in all manners of sexual ways before her heat was sated, and frankly, she wanted to know what she was getting herself into. She had overheard some of her more promiscuous staff comment that every stallion they dated seemed to "taste different", so maybe Spike would be something else entirely? So, with Spike's head turned away, she casually placed one cum-soaked finger in her mouth and sucked off the creamy white stuff.

"Hmm," she said softly as the rather unique flavor took hold in her mouth. Spike's essence tasted like... well, it was hard for her to define it. It reminded her of the sweetest of cakes, combined with a smooth creaminess and the slight stickiness that was similar to that of a donut's frosting. Glancing back at Spike to make sure he wasn't looking, she licked the rest from her hand, deciding she would definitely have to try some more in the future. Still, when she turned back to face Spike after soaping up her hand with the soap and rinsing it off, he looked rather... downcast.

"Spike, what is so ever the matter?" Celestia asked, gently placing her now-clean hand on his shoulder.

"I... I came too early," he said, almost sounding like he was going to cry. "I... I didn't last long. What about when you need me to... stick myself in you? What if I can't last long enough to please you?" A legitimate concern, in his mind: the whole world was depending upon him having the stamina needed to keep up with a virtual goddess of the star's sexual drive, and if he failed... yikes.

Celestia was taken aback; he was worried about performance issues, of all things? Why in the world would he worry about something like that? Dragons were known for endurance in all forms, but in the bedroom, an untested dragon was an unsure dragon, and she could not have Spike be unsure of himself when the time came for him to breed her. Perhaps she would have to help him build up his "perceived" endurance with many more... activities? She did know he'd build up stamina quickly, but she could not wear him out before the "big one" arrived.

"Spike, that was your first time ever receiving... what do they call it, a hand job, wasn't it?" the princess asked.

The dragon nodded, turning back to face her with an apologetic look on his face. In that sorry state, he looked a bit like a puppy that had just broken a small dinner plate and knew they had done something wrong. Oh, he looked so adorably sexy when he pouted like that.

"And, based solely on that performance, you are worried you won't be able to last with me when the time comes for us to consummate?" Celestia prided herself on at least having some deductive reasoning skills, so perhaps all of the problems with Spike so far could be well and truly solved with talk... and sex. She'd really like it if they were all solvable by sex; hot, dirty, in-your-face sex.

"Well, yes," Spike said softly. "I can't fail you or my friends, or the world for that matter, but I... I'm just scared I don't have the stamina you'll need from me."

"Spike, listen to me, and listen close: I have never had sex before, remember?" the princess said, hoping to remind Spike of everything they had already discussed. "I have no idea how it will feel for you to... enter me, but I can assure you of something. No matter how long or short you think you may last, be thankful it is me you are having sex with. I myself will likely last just as long or as short as you, remember, and frankly, there is no other being in the world I would rather have take my virginity than you."

Spike looked up at her, his eyes lighting up with realization, awe and gratitude. "R-really?"

"Of course, Spike," Celestia said, gently enfolding him in an embrace. It was not carnal in nature, though it could easily have been so: it was gentle, caring, and comforting, like the hug of a good friend and not a future lover. "Come now, we are clean, and we are closer to that secluded alcove I told you about. We are still a ways off, though, and I would prefer it if we were able to at least find some shelter before the night comes. Besides, I'm hungry; how about you?" She broke away from him when she asked this, and for the first time in his life, a naked pony standing before Spike did not bring embarrassment.

"Famished," Spike said, feeling the urge to laugh. "I should think we'll eat once we stop travelling for the day. We'll sleep easier on full bellies, and we didn't exactly strain ourselves too much." So many of his sudden doubts and perceived failures had melted away, just like that, all because Celestia instilled confidence in him and believed him to be the one for her. In fact, that knowledge alone gave him such an uplifting feeling, he could have sworn he was walking on air. But of course he wasn't: he didn't have wings, after all.

Walking back and picking up the food bag, he followed his naked princess out of the waterfall's pool and off through the short, very clean grass. With every step, Celestia's rump bounced slightly, her breasts swung gently from side to side, and her soft, unearthly wings jostled every now and then. Spike felt drained and yet positively relieved of a pressure he hadn't known he was keeping in. Celestia, in all of her naked glory, had given him a twinkle of hope, as she was obviously capable of being an inspiration. Then and there, Spike felt inspired to whatever she asked, no matter how dangerous or how degrading it might be. She was good to him in all sense of the word; he only hoped he could do the same for her.


	8. Carnal Arts (and Crafts)

Chapter Eight

Carnal Arts (and Crafts)

The sun was beginning to set on the horizon by the time Celestia and Spike reached a secluded spot under the main waterfall, far away from where they had cleaned themselves. It was not the alcove Celestia had told Spike about before, which was still a good distance yet from their current location, but it would do the trick of sheltering them for the night. They were nearly to the rocky portion of the volcano's base where they would eventually ascend to Celestia's mentioned spot, but for the moment, they were tired and rather hungry.

A distant rumble, however, put their plans on moving out first thing in the morning on hold. Even as they were sheltered, they could see the tops of the trees move in the distance, buffeted by increasing winds blowing in off of the ocean. "How many times is it going to rain on this stinking island?" Spike asked in a somewhat grumpy manner, despite what had transpired mere hours before. "This'll be the third time in about as many days."

"I know Spike, I know, but it cannot be helped," Celestia said as they set up where they would sleep. "I cannot command the weather on this island as the pegasi do in Ponyville, and our time here happened to coincide with the wet season in this part of the world. Be thankful we are not in the path of any truly large storm, like a cyclone, or else we'd truly be in trouble."

Of all the things she had been taught by her parents when she was younger, perhaps one of the only things Celestia had not paid attention to was the magic needed to bend the weather to one's will. Her parents, stern yet understanding alicorns, had actually complimented her for this, as they saw it as her insight into the true natural processes she would someday have to experience. If she could control the weather in its entirety, ponies would become too reliant on her and go from virtually worshipping her to actually worshipping her, complete with religious ceremonies, prayers for rain, and in the most extreme of cases, holy wars against those who prayed to others. Neither Celestia, Luna nor their parents wanted anything like that to happen, so weather magic had been "swept under the rug" to make way for spells on levitation and telepathy.

Spike drank from a small pool of clean water, the contents filtered by the rocks high above. It was crisp and carried with it the delicious natural flavoring of the stones through which it filtered, a taste very subtle to others but strikingly blatant to ones such as dragons. "Well, thank goodness for small miracles. What would the dry season be like, anyway?" he asked, traipsing back over to where Celestia had their food laid out.

"Closer to weather in the Everfree Forest, I should think," the princess said, popping a few ripe berries into her mouth. "Rain every other week or so, though in far less quantities during the later parts and lasting not nearly as long."

"Sounds pretty nice," the dragon said, munching on some sugarcane stalk. He looked out of their sheltered little alcove, the green of the island giving way to the endless blue ocean. Even with the surety of the approaching storm, Spike felt calm and rather at peace. Well, except for one thing that kept going over in his mind: two things, actually.

He had lost control when washing Celestia. Granted, she had seemed rather happy when he did, and he could remember everything he had done, but the sensation of not actually being the one to do those things to her made him feel... upset. Jealous, even; he wanted to be the one to be with Celestia, and he wanted to be the one that would ultimately be given her virginity. He didn't want some innate, other side of his brain to just take over and steal away something he had been chosen to receive.

That brought him to his second train of thought. Celestia had given him a hand job in the waterfall. Granted, it had arisen out of her cleaning him and had been rather unavoidable, given what they were destined to do on this island, but a hand job it still was. Not counting his rather miserable performance (the tales of which would hopefully never be told to anypony ever), he felt just... unclean. Why should Celestia have to initiate the first vaguely sexual encounter they had? Why couldn't he be the one to step up and make her feel good and experience some form of great bodily pleasure?

Was he a coward for having thoughts like these? Certainly, through much of his younger life, Spike had been prone to bouts of insecurity, self-doubt, and at times, outright fear. Like that time he had immaturely assumed zombies had taken over Ponyville, when in fact they had all been hiding from Zecora: pure, simplistic, rather immature and misplaced fear. Or that time he was so worried Twilight was going to replace him with Owlicious that he ran away from home after idiotically trying to frame the owl for some stupid "crime"? Once again, fear and uncertainty had sure made their presence known in his life.

Out here on the island, though, things were rather different. Since those incidents so many years ago, Spike had grown up, pure and simple. He refused to be afraid of the same kinds of things he had once found terrifying; he no longer saw the terrors of maybes and what-ifs. However, while he may have grown out of his frightened shell of a former life, he had not completely outgrown two equally important aspects that had defined him for so long; his self-doubt and subsequent indecisiveness. Here, on this island, he was tasked with having sex with Celestia in order to save the world. Granted, having sex with her would be the easiest part of the whole thing. The hardest thing would not only be overcoming his self-doubts, not only overcoming his indecisive nature, but to do something he never thought he'd be capable of.

He'd have to show Celestia he thought of her not as his princess, nor as a future lover, but as a mare and a fellow thinking, feeling, breathing being. Spike would have to administer to her needs, though not out of some honor-bound code of conduct that meant he had to make things as good for her as she was going to for him. No, he'd have to do this, not as an obligation, but as a gift. The dragon knew Celestia, through her various ways of telling him, was as much a virgin as he, and for the life of him, it was a humbling thought. He didn't feel obligated to try and make her first time something special and tender; he wanted to do that. Truly, with every fiber of his being, he wanted to make her happy in ways she never had been before. In fact, he wasn't exactly sure he even deserved such a gift, but Celestia had made up her mind, and refusal would be the worst possible thing he could do, for both them and for the world.

He just hoped he was up to the admittedly many tasks set before him. First things first, he had to repay Celestia for her earlier "ministrations". He had been thinking long and hard on exactly how to do just that, and perhaps one-upping the princess would be the best way to kick things off. Still, he couldn't just jump her; where was the fun and/or sense in that? It'd have to be nice, slow, a gradual acceleration of their soon-to-be intimate relationship.

"Spike, is something the matter?" Celestia asked, completely unaware of how detailed or thorough Spike's thought processes were becoming. If she could have sensed them, she might not have even known it was him. Spike had not thought like this before in his life, but this island was changing him; Celestia herself was changing him. All of his life experiences, both past and present, were coming together in an ultimately glorious combination.

"What? Oh, I uh, I was just... thinking," Spike said softly as he finished his small handful of berries. Somewhere, beyond the sea, somewhere waiting for him, were his friends. They had no idea what he had to do, and thankfully, none of them would find out from him. Now, to set his suddenly-laid plan into motion...

"About what?" Celestia asked, somewhat curious as she bit into a small, juicy mango. The thunder rumbling in the distance was oddly offset by the constant low rumble of the waterfalls not too far away. In fact, she could feel the constant pounding of the water against the mighty stone, even from this far away. It reminded her of the low thrum of the of the ocean's waves against the island's sandy shores, back when they had first arrived on the island.

"Just... things; life in general, I guess," Spike said, his voice lower than before. It almost sounded like back at the waterfall; in fact, it sounded exactly like it had back at the waterfall, and the slight baritone edge that it exuded brought a slight tremor to Celestia's spine. Spike's eyes, however, were the same as they had always been when he turned to face her, so... maybe she was just imagining "that" side of him again? "I've... I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Yes?" Celestia asked, wondering why she sounded so breathless when Spike slowly crawled to her side. Sure, they were naked, and previously the mere thought of being seen naked by one of her subjects proved to horrify her to no end, but out here... she didn't mind it so much. No, scratch that; she somewhat enjoyed being naked. It was like being free of all the worries and stresses of what life brought upon you, all of that being dependent on what type of clothing you were to wear.

"Can I... do something for you?" the dragon asked as he sidled up next to her, the warmth of his body a pleasant and a reassuring feeling. It was like the blanket she had had when she was just a little filly, something she had been reluctant to give up until her arrival on Earth meant she could not bring it with her. Hopefully her parent's hadn't gotten rid of it; maybe she'd visit them sometime in the near future and see if they still had it.

Maybe she could bring Spike along and introduce him to the family?

"What... what do you want to do?" the princess asked, wondering why she felt too warm all of a sudden. Spike's presence, something before that brought comfort and security, was beginning to feel... intoxicating, and in an entirely good way too.

"That depends," he said, his eyes looking into hers with a gentle expression of compassion. "Do you trust me?"

"I... uh... I... o-of course I do, Spike," was all Celestia could manage to sputter out. Seriously, why was she becoming so flustered when he was this close to her? She had just given him a hand job less than a few hours ago, and now she was the one acting like it had been the most upsetting event to ever transpire on the island! "I... I do trust you, I really do."

"Then I'm going to ask you to close your eyes," the dragon said, his voice almost a purr as he moved another inch closer to her.

"W-why, may I ask, do I need to close my eyes?" Celestia asked, her breath catching in her throat at his tone.

"I'm just going... to try something," was all that the dragon said.

Now, in any other kind of situation, Celestia would have undoubtedly asked Spike just what he was doing, and likely would have kept asking until he relented and spilled the collective beans on the matter. But out here, far from the titles and powers that declared her to be a princess and him to just be another one of her subjects, she felt such protocol was unneeded. So, after leaning against a soft mat of wall-clinging moss, she closed her eyes and waited. She could feel the dragon beside her shuffle slightly, as if he were reaching for something-

The feeling of something wet and cold pressing against her lips made the princess open her eyes in fright. Looking down, she saw a ripe strawberry, some of the many she had picked while Spike had lay back in the cave. She glanced over at Spike, who seemed to have a disappointed look on his face.

"Celestia, please close your eyes and leave them closed until I ask you to open them," he said as he pulled the strawberry away from her lips. The pile of food was closer to them than the princess had remembered. Perhaps that was why she had felt him shuffle around a bit; he was bringing it all with easy reach.

"O-okay Spike, I'll keep them closed; I promise," the princess said, closing her eyes once more.

"Now, I'm going to ask you to open your mouth, slowly," Spike said softly as Celestia felt the strawberry press against her lips once more. This time, she did as she was asked, and slowly opened her mouth, feeling the strawberry gently enter.

"Now chew," the dragon whispered, his hot breath feeling very welcome on her long, slender throat.

Celestia did as Spike said and slowly chewed the strawberry, feeling the juices of the fruit immediately fill her mouth. It had been a perfect berry; ripe yet firm, and almost sinfully sweet. Licking her lips after swallowing its emulsified remains, she felt something press against her lips once more. Taking whatever it was Spike was giving to her into her mouth once more, she chewed gently, only to be surprised by the sudden contrast of flavor.

"It's... it's somewhat sour," she said to Spike. It did not taste bad, but it wasn't a fruit; it was a leaf, and yet it was strangely familiar to her taste buds.

"Well, I should think so," Spike said. "Those are the last few leaves from the thorn wall. I found them in some of the folds of the bag."

"Oh, well, that would explain the aftertaste," Celestia said, swallowing the mashed-up remains of the leaf. "May I have more?"

"Here," the dragon said softly, pressing something else to her mouth. It felt far too large to be a small fruit or a leaf, so Celestia tentatively took a bite out of it. Immediately, warm sticky juice flowed over her mouth and over her face, dripping off of her chin.

"A... a mango?" the princess guessed as she let the sweet flesh of the fruit roll around in her mouth. It was ripe, perhaps a few days too ripe, as normally there wouldn't have been this much juice rolling down her chin. She could even feel tiny rivulets of it running down her throat and into the valley between her breasts, while the drips from her chin landed on her stomach.

"Yes," Spike replied as he helped her to take another bite, which sent even more of sticky and sweet juice running down her face. For a few minutes he just sat there, watching with bright eyes as the princess happily munched on the juicy fruit. Her coat, so pristine after the shower under the waterfall, was becoming sticky and matted with the excess juices, and the pure white it had been was becoming marred by the orangish fluid that dripped off her chin and ran down her throat. Spike found it strangely erotic, and it was giving him ideas...

Celestia opened her mouth for the next thing from Spike, and she felt it barely brush against her lips, but for some reason, it did not go into her mouth. Wondering why this was, the princess was tempted to open her eyes, but then she felt it press against her lips once more. Trying to bite into whatever Spike was offering, she grew frustrated when he drew it just out of her reach.

"Guess what it is," Spike whispered after she made a slight moaning noise. She wanted to taste the food, to feel any juices it exuded running down her throat. "Guess what it is, and it will be yours, Celestia."

"Is it... another strawberry?" she asked, wondering why she felt breathless even though she had been breathing regularly the entire time. She could feel the stickiness of the mango's juices against her skin, soaking through her pelt, and for some reason, she didn't care. She wanted it there; she wanted Spike to clean her up, preferably with his lips, or even his tongue. Why her mind went along with that train of thought, she did not know.

"No, guess again," the dragon said, letting whatever he was holding brush past Celestia's lips long enough for her to make a small noise of frustration at her incorrect guess.

"Is it a... a... a piece of sugarcane?" she asked, sounding a bit more determined.

"Guess again, Celestia," the dragon said, his tone hinting at the small smirk that had graced his lips. He really was having fun with this whole idea; he'd have to thank Pinkie Pie when he got back for inventing a food-based guessing game like this. Only, back in Ponyville, it had never gotten anywhere near this sensual...

"Is it... is it... is it a cherry?" Celestia felt like she had to peek, just to know what it was, but something inside her forbade her eyelids from opening. She trusted Spike, and so, she wanted him to trust her. Her eyes remained closed as her brain went through everything she had managed to scrounge up for them.

"Bingo!" Spike said with a small chuckle as he gently let the cherry slide into Celestia's waiting mouth, the pit already removed with a single incision from one of his now-retracted claws.

"Mmm," the princess muttered, gladly chewing the cherry with gusto. She had always liked cherries; the color, the sweetness, the instant craving that left you wanting more. The minute she was finished, she felt another piece of food press against her lips, which she opened once again to try and envelop. As before, Spike pulled it just out of her reach, his hot breath washing down her sticky neck.

"Spike, I'm getting a bit full," the princess said, having eaten a bit of food before starting this little "game" of the dragons'.

"Okay, but just two more things, okay?" Spike asked softly. If her eyes had indeed been open, she'd have seen the dragon giving her the infamous "puppy-dog look" that he had perfected as a youngster.

"I guess two more wouldn't hurt," Celestia said, feeling the food Spike was holding brush against her lips once more. "Is this... another mango?"

"Excellent guess," the dragon said as he held the ripe fruit for the alicorn to gently munch on. "It's a bit smaller, though."

"That is fine," the princess said as she bit deeply into the fruit, feeling more of the juice run down her face and onto her upper body once more. A few drops even found their way to her areolas and nipples. Finishing that piece, the princess waited for Spike to place the last fruit against her lips, but... something else did.

Something warm, and very, very soft. It pulled away in an instant, leaving her terribly confused and incredibly curious.

"You can open your eyes this time," Spike mumbled, his own eyes closing as he felt her soft lips once more make contact with him.

Opening her eyes, Celestia saw Spike was kissing her. Befuddled for the merest of moments, she pulled his head closer with one free hand and deepened the kiss, her own lips threatening to crack into a smile as she did so.

"So, you clever little dragon you," she thought to herself as their mouths parted and their tongues slowly slid over one another. "You thought of all of this as a way to get me to kiss you? Bravo, Spike; bravo."

Spike could not help but feel incredibly aroused by the taste of Celestia's saliva. It carried with it all of the fruits and other things she had just eaten: the cherries, the mangos, the strawberries, even those slightly-sour leaves from the thorn bush. He could taste it all, as well as the naturally sweet breath she exuded. Flicking his tongue over her lips like a snake after pulling apart from the kiss, Spike looked deep into her eyes and smirked slightly.

"Oh, Celestia, you've gone and gotten yourself rather messy. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Celestia positively purred at the tone of his voice; he sounded both mock-serious and sexier than, well, anything she'd ever heard. "Oh my, Spike the dragon; I do seem to have besmirched my pelt with all these... juices," she cooed, her eyes twinkling in delight as she saw the dragon blink in surprise and... arousal. "Do you think you could... help me clean up?" Celestia had no "true" experience with talking dirty, but the way Spike was eyeing her up after that particular statement, she must have had a knack for it.

"It would be a pleasure, your highness," Spike said, placing a not-so-chaste kiss on the princess's cheek. Letting his tongue slide out, he slowly began to work on the sweet, sticky juices covering his princess's face.

In equine society, social grooming had not truly changed from what it had been when all ponies where still in nomadic tribes many thousands of years before. Ponies would groom each other's manes, hugs would be given, kisses exchanged, and perhaps most different from other being's cultures, equines shared in a social bonding with mates and offspring with licking. Now, alicorns had similarly developed a strong social interaction along these lines, even though they had been far removed from the same kinds of forces that had shaped other pony societies over the millennia. To them, grooming with the tongue was not only a sign of deep friendship and trust, but a sure sign of eroticism within a relationship. So, understandably, Celestia's spine felt chill after chill go up it as Spike carefully caressed her face with his tongue.

Soon enough, her face was more or less clean, and she saw (and obviously felt) Spike move down past her chin, and onto her neck. Here, however, he did not just let his tickling tongue flicker out to clean her off. All along her throat he laid a pattern of butterfly kisses, there merest of touches setting her skin on fire with strange and wondrous emotions. She couldn't help but giggle when his tongue caressed the area where her Adam's apple would be, if she were born a colt and not a filly.

Spike could feel every breath she took as he kissed and nuzzled her neck, the juice-soiled coat becoming more and more pristine with every lick and kiss. He could feel her pulse with his lips, altogether faster than he had thought but no greater than his own at that point. All of this stimulation was doing wonders for both of their heart rates, but Spike forced blood away from a "certain" aspect of his anatomy as best he could. He didn't want to give her any ideas just yet; that would come later, no doubt.

Eventually, Spike's lips moved down past her creamy white throat and onto the princess's collarbone, where the kisses had a rather different effect. Here, they were not just soft, but soothing as well, like a massage after a hard day's work. Granted, growing up Celestia had always had problems putting up with her filled-in figure, something her sister Luna had experienced at around the same age. They both were built with large "luggage" on both their chests and rear ends, but for the most part, it was all balanced out. Still, as the dragon's lips gently nipped at her collarbone, Celestia felt a tingle travel all the way from the tip of her horn to the bottoms of her hooves.

"Spike?" she whispered, hoping he wouldn't answer her at all and just keep continuing what he was doing. "Can... can you go lower?" Him not touching the still-soiled regions of her upper body were causing her to develop a peculiar itch. She did not actually itch, per se, but she needed contact there to relieve herself, and right then and there she wanted Spike to be the one to do that.

"With pleasure," the dragon whispered, his lips hovering above the princess's soft pelt. Though he was not actually touching her then and there, his voice sent a very thrilling vibration through her entire solar plexus, something Celestia found to be very... intriguing. Soon enough, and none too soon for the alicorn, Spike's lips moved further downwards, as did his tongue, eventually stopping...

"Oh!" Celestia gasped, arching her chest forward slightly as Spike's long, sinuous tongue caressed the upper curves and inner valley of her breasts. Her breathing hitching in her throat, it took all of Celestia's willpower to not just place her hands on Spike's heads and shove his face into her heaving bosom. Instead, she just lowered her chin and looked down at the dragon, finding it very hard to not focus on every single movement of his swirling tongue.

It was long, like that of a snake or lizard, to be sure, but the width of it, combined with the very non-reptilian texture, belied the true nature of a dragon. They were not some common form of reptilian: they belonged to a race far older than any species on Earth had a right to claim. Back when the world was in its primordial infancy, they lived and died far away from the confines of this planet's atmosphere, serving under an even mightier race that had inhabited the stars for eons before even them. Before that ancient and mighty race, there had been... nothing.

Celestia's thoughts on the deep past were thrown off a bridge and stampeded by a herd of angry buffalo when the dragon's tongue swirled around one of her breast's areolas, and in ever-shrinking circles, finally flipped the very tip of a rock-hard nipple. Celestia let forth a soft, keening cry, unable to hold back as her body spasmed softly. Her nerves were alive with electricity, and her skin felt as though the dragon was bathing her in liquid fire.

She loved it; she loved the way he was making her feel, all with just his tongue and his lips. The instant he switched over to another nipple, she let forth another keening cry, her voice carrying beyond their secluded alcove.

Spike looked up in surprise and slight worry. "I-is something wrong, Celestia?" he asked.

Her glare of anger at him having stopped would have sent any of her royal guards, or enemies for that matter, running for the hills. "Don't stop," she said, her voice more of a command than any sort of suggestion. She couldn't help herself: the way he was making her feel was... indescribable. If he stopped then and there, she'd likely sock him right in the gut, and then curse him to see polka dots for a few days.

Spike went back to his ministrations, this "dominating/angry" side of Celestia being a rather erotic sight. Who knew passion and eroticism could go hand-in-hand with anger and turn out so unbelievably sexy?

Celestia's keening cries returned for a short while, only to be replaced by loud, pleasure-filled whinnies as Spike's lips wrapped around one of her nipples and sucked hard. One of her legs shot out, colliding with a rock sticking out of the ground. It held, and her leg was now propped open to the side, but Celestia was far more focused on Spike's nibbling of her nipples than on her surroundings.

By the sun and moon, his tongue: it flickered across the tip of her nipple as the rest was engulfed by his tender lips. Celestia's wings came up alongside her in a flash, stiffer than pine board and unlikely to get soft anytime soon. She felt her eyes roll into the back of her skull when his teeth lightly teased the nipple as well, the sheer pleasure of the feeling making her go all numb in her nether regions.

Then he switched over to the other nipple, pressing his face full up against it, and her yelps doubled in volume. By the stars, if anypony else were anywhere near them, they'd have thought she was crying. Crying she was, though not out of sadness or despair, but out of joy and pleasure. The feeling of the dragon nuzzling, licking, suckling on her nipples drove the princess wild. If her hair had been as attached to her as her wings, it would have been standing on end, straight as an arrow. Her other leg fell open to the side, weak from trying to keep itself propped up.

Then, pressing her breasts together, the dragon somehow managed to suck on both at once, and still flick his forked tongue over the tips of both. The alicorn princess felt as though her eyes would shoot out of her skull; there was a pressure building within her entire body, and if it wasn't released somehow, in some way, she'd likely explode from it all.

Celestia made a great noise of disappointment when Spike removed his lips from her nipples, looking down at him with puppy-dog eyes. "W-w-why d-did you s-stop?" she asked, almost sounding as though she was about to cry.

"I'm not done," Spike said simply, his hot breath washing over her stomach as he continued his way down. The butterfly kisses on her toned abdominal muscles and the soft licks from his tongue between the muscle edges sent unique chills up and down her stomach, and rear, and things even lower than that...

"Oh... oh my," Celestia gasped, her next set of words never leaving her lips as she saw Spike descend below her trim waistline. She saw –no, felt- his lips graze her pelt just above her most private of parts. "Spike, w-w-what are y-you-,"

Her voice caught in her throat as the dragon placed a kissed directly on her puffy, leaking lower lips. Instead of comprehensible words, Celestia let forth a cry that could have been mistaken for a dying animal, like a cat or some sort of seal. It was loud, it was long, and the entire time she made that noise, Celestia trembled and shook like a tree in a hurricane. Every kiss was like a punch to her gut, sending all coherent thoughts flying out of her ears like bats from a cave.

Then, something rose up along Spike's lips, and Celestia was able to look down in time to see two of Spike's fingers rub along the outer edges of her marehood, the circles they were making becoming smaller and smaller. Then, in one swift and yet strangely slow motion, he sent the two fingers into her.

Celestia's horn shot off a beam of magic so strong, it shot through a cloud high above them and caused it to rip apart in a completely uncloud-like fashion, briefly illuminating the area. The cloud behind that, traumatized by the experience, began releasing all of its fluids in fear, and so began the storm. Rain came down in sheets across the entire island as lightning flashed across the sky and thunder sounded in the deep.

Neither of them seemed to notice; Spike was far too focused on the task at hand, and Celestia... Well, her mind wasn't exactly in the right place at that moment. She began to babble incessantly between every shriek and whinny, her fingers curling so tightly into fists she was leaving marks in her palms. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth as her eyelids fluttered like she had something in her eyes.

Then, Spike twisted his fingers, and Celestia's one hoof, still held in place by the stone it had been for the past few minutes, pushed right through the hard rock like it was made of tissue paper. Little shards of the rock flew everywhere, bouncing off Spike's back and skittering around them like little bits of hail. Spike, leaving his sinuously-twisting fingers firmly enshrouded by Celestia's absolutely gorgeous and gushing lower lips, trailed a few kiss up her now-clean body and ended up right next to the princess's face. Her large breasts jiggled fiercely with every labored breath, their small circular movements threatening to hypnotize the dragon if he did not concentrate.

If not for the fact that Celestia was crying out in pleasure, Spike would have thought the tears on her face were those of pain. But the dumb smile on her face belied their true cause; she was in heaven right then and there. She was feeling this good, experiencing this utmost pleasure, all due to him, inexperienced he was.

Truth be told, he loved every second of it. He was the one doing this to her; he was the one bringing her such feelings and emotions. Her body shook with every ragged breath; her incessant ramblings sounded like music to his ears. "Celestia," he whispered, looking into her wide, lust-addled eyes. Her mane flared all around her as if it had a mind of its owns, looking haggard, unkempt and yet somehow incredibly sexy.

Celestia looked back at him, her eyes somehow locking onto his even as her mouth refused to respond to his saying of her name.

"Come," Spike simply whispered. He had been thinking of this moment almost since he had begun this little "game", and now, perhaps, she too would feel the same euphoric release he had felt back at the waterfall.

Celestia whinnied louder than she ever had before at those words, and in an instant, the entire world shattered for her. Every thought, every idea, all perceptions of reality disappeared as she felt her entire body clench at the same time. It was as though she was being compressed into a small tube, getting smaller and smaller as the milliseconds stretched into days. It was torturous, it was unbelievable, it was incredible...

She loved every waking moment of it. Her cries ceasing as her body floundered on the soft moss, Celestia's marehood expelled her sexual juices, coating the insides of her legs and splashing all over Spike's hand and even his forearm. Like a dam bursting in the midst of some ancient flood, it continued for who-knew how long, her lungs struggling to regain brain-fuelling oxygen.

Spike, in an almost casual manner, lifted his fingers to his lips, right in front of Celestia's wide, exhausted eyes. Then, in an almost obscene manner, he licked them and the entirety of his forearm clean, his lustful smirk sending an unbidden chill down Celestia' wings. To him, her juices were sweeter than the richest of honeys, with a very powerful underlying flavor that reminded him of cinnamon. Placing a kiss on her tear-soaked cheeks, Spike gently lay beside her, watching as she struggled to regain her composure.

"S... S... S... Sp-," the princess tried to say, unable to even form the words she wanted to say. Spike had just... she didn't even know truly what she had just experienced. Was this an orgasm, or something far stronger? Was this magic on a whole other level?

"Goodnight, your highness," Spike said, closing his eyes and cuddling up next to the alicorn. In his mind, he couldn't have been more thrilled with what had transpired. He had instinctively known he'd manage to work up the princess enough to where he could do that to her, something he had found to be surprisingly arousing, even though nothing was being done for him in the act. Just the thought of seeing her in that state and knowing it had been him who had brought her to that peak was more than enough for him. However, he had not expected to learn as much about Celestia in that state as he had thought he would.

Celestia would be a screamer, something he had not thought would transpire. Here he had thought she'd be this quiet, demure lover, and yet she would instead be something of a sexual banshee, a thought he found most... erotic. The instant he learned of that, he had been entirely thankful they were alone on a secluded island, lest somepony or something overhear them and come to investigate. The reason she was a screamer, though, was perhaps a bit unsettling. The alicorn princess's body was highly sensitive to his touch, even more so the more aroused she became. That could be a problem if they were to consummate sooner rather than later. Spike had no idea how he was going to fit himself into something that appeared so small; perhaps they would need to discuss that at some point in the near future.

The storm raged around them, with lightning flashing, thunder rumbling, and rain pelting every which way. But they were secure in this little alcove, so Celestia managed to turn her weary mind towards more pressing matters. Spike had brought her to what had definitely been an orgasm, something she had never experienced before. That being said, she now knew why there had always been a slightly hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach every time Spike had aroused her on their way to this island, but had never done anything to complete it. He had been building her up, only to leave her hanging, and the poor dragon hadn't even known it at the time. Still, for a dragon who had only just received a hand job a few short hours before, he was remarkably adept at bringing her to that peak in a slow and torturous process that had driven her absolutely wild.

As Celestia finally gave in to her weary body's demands, she could only think of one thing she would have to do.

"I'm going to get him back for that," she thought, her smile exhausted but genuine and filled with knowledge of what was still to come in the following weeks. Slipping off into her well-deserved slumber, the princess instinctively pulled the sleeping dragon closer to her, secure and happy in his embrace.


	9. History and Recompense

Chapter Nine

History and Recompense

After the "special" night before, Celestia and Spike didn't speak to each other until almost midday. That was simply because they slept in until that time, the storm enshrouding the island dropping in intensity but never ceasing altogether. The constant patter of the rain above their rocky outcropping meant the pair were more or less trapped until the storm passed, something neither of them terribly minded. They had eaten their fill the night before, they were in a comfortable resting place, and they had each other for company; who could ask for more than that, given the circumstances?

However, in one of the pair's minds, something had to be done about what had transpired the night before. Specifically, Celestia wondered how she was going to possibly one-up what Spike had done, complete with making him feel utterly in awe of her unused (or nonexistent) sexual skills. Like him, she knew she'd have to build up to it, prodding and gently nudging him in the right direction to where he'd be putty in her hands. But Spike would be expecting something like that to happen right off the bat, so he'd have some sort of mental preparedness awaiting her advances. She would need to lull him into a false sense of security, and then she'd go for the jugular.

Or it was the scrotum, to be precise: it didn't matter to her. She had to repay him for his little game, so why not be subtle and blatant at the same time?

"Spike, would you like to know something few others do?" Celestia asked as she laid on the ground, thankful that it was soft and rather comfortable.

"Sure; what is it?" the dragon asked, lying next to the princess but keeping his hands to himself. He had a distinct feeling she would try to "thank" him for what had transpired last night, but against his bodies' wishes, he was going to try and hold out. He wanted to see where any returned affection would go, and just how intense it would become.

"The history of dragons," the princess said rather simply, twirling an errant end of her mane between her fingers. "There's very little literature on it amongst the sentient species of this world, but we alicorns know much of it by heart, seeing as it has much to do with our own history as well. So, technically, you could say Luna, Cadence and myself are the foremost experts on dragons in the world, outside of the species of course."

Spike blinked in surprise, having never expected the princess to say something like that. He knew about as much on the history of his kind as did any of his friends, so suffice to say he knew very little. He knew about honor codes, certain rules concerning personal aspects of his life, and the incredible connection between a dragon's emotional state and their physical state. Other than that... he knew practically nothing. "Well, yeah, I guess," he said slowly, his brain buzzing with both excitement and curiosity. Did Celestia know secrets of his race that he had never suspected?

"Okay, but to tell you of your species' history, I need to tell you of another species', which came about long before the time of your kind, and subsequently, my own." Celestia didn't exactly mean to, but her voice took on a slightly mysterious quality, as if trying to tempt Spike to ask questions.

"Well, I don't exactly have any pressing matters to attend to," Spike said, sidling up next to Celestia as they looked up at the overhang's ceiling. "Go ahead."

"Well, perhaps a demonstration will help with the story, seeing as how much of it is hard to explain with just words," Celestia said, the magic within her reaching ever closer to what it had been before their arrival. With a wave of her hand and a spark of magic from her horn, the storm outside seemed to fade away as the room darkened, and yet... somehow brightened, as if they could see everything as plain as day. The ceiling shimmered and before Spike knew it, he could have sworn he was looking up at the stars through a telescope. Only... stars didn't look that big from any point on the world. Their colors radiated off of their massive sizes as the whole universe lay out before him. It was everything and nothing and something at once, and even though he could barely comprehend it all, Spike knew it was a merest fraction of what was all out there.

"Where... where are we?" Spike asked, his breathe almost snatched away by the universal beauty before him. It was almost like Celestia and he were just... floating amongst the stars in the sky.

"We're still on the island, Spike," Celestia said as the images whirled around like a kaleidoscope, swirling and shifting into new and wonderful colors. "You just feel as though you are worlds away, a minor side effect of this sort of spell. Now then, let's go back, to nearly the beginning, but not so close that we may see it. It is, after all, impossible to truly view the beginning of the universe."

Another wave of her hand, and the tapestry of stars was reduced to a smaller cluster of them, but these were no ordinary stars. These stars were much larger than the sun, so large that they seemed to take up all of space. There were no planets, no asteroids or even comets; just massive stars.

"We alicorns understand much of how the universe began, but as with everything, there is still much more to discover. After the creation of all matter, the universe was in an ever-present state of chaos for an extremely long time. The very first stars after this chaotic period were truly enormous, Spike: so large that they violently exploded upon a premature death, scattering elements to the four cosmic winds. In time, after the universe cooled down and much of the extreme chaos that was began to become apparently organized, things began to coalesce, albeit in a cooler and much more subtly chaotic way. Eventually, planets formed, born of collisions between uncountable pieces of stardust and detritus."

Spike watched as countless images whirled past them on the ceiling, like images from one of Rainbow Dash's projector movies sped up beyond belief. Planets colliding, forming larger planets: stars bursting, then amalgamating once more into newer, younger stars. Massive clouds of dust and gas and ice coalescing into comets, asteroids, rings around larger planets; it was all so chaotic, so random, and yet... so beautiful. It was a ballet of creation, spread across the ever-growing vastness of a universe Spike could never hope to truly comprehend.

"Eventually, on a planet not unlike our own, there arose from the primordial ooze of basic elements something entirely knew to the universe," Celestia continued, zooming in on a blue and red planet, the size of which was similar, if a little bit smaller, than Earth's. "Life." A small cell was shown, incredibly similar to that of the ones in Twilight's textbooks, and then it became two, and then four, and then eight, and more and more until the whole collection of them became something else. Those cells became a larger creature, simple-looking but undoubtedly suited to the world in which it lived. Time flew by in a rush, and the creature continued to change: it grew a carapace not unlike a scorpion, and where it was once limbless it now sprouted many articulated legs, some larger and more defined than others. All ended in something akin to pincers, though the main pair in front were far larger and more powerful-looking than any of the others. The head enlarged as the body lengthened, and as the eyes grew in size, so did the rest of the body.

"This is the ancestor of the first rulers of the cosmos," Celestia said as the creature followed a small group of its kind out of the water and onto dry land. Strange, bulbous-looking things that could only be plants enshrouded the surface of the planet, with volcanos and canyons dotting the ever-changing landscape. Odd-looking creatures inhabited these trees, looking like an insectoid version of hawks. These seemed to prey on the small, scurrying creatures that had left the seas behind and had evolved to live on land.

Continents shifted and scores of rogue comets bombarded the surface, but the creatures lived on, their evolutionary path continuing as they did so. Former paddles became rear legs, much like the front ones but thicker and more able to support their weight on land. They grew larger still, from frog-size to giants equal to a large crocodile or shark, large enough that many of their old predators wouldn't have stood a chance against them. Now, they stood no more than three or four feet tall when standing up on all of their legs, but they remained a quadrupedal species, growing to lengths of twenty feet or greater, and it seemed to be working just fine for them. Originally loners, they soon started living in something akin to prides or family groups, with one dominant male and several smaller females, with their offspring, making up said group.

Their world was still a very hostile place to live, even with these creature's evolutionary growth spurts. Massive packs of what seemed to be a spider version of lions roamed plains, preying on all but the largest of creatures. Scores and scores of large flying creatures lived in the mountains, swooping down on unsuspecting prey living in the valleys and plains around them. The waters teemed with life, much of it looking rather bizarre, and in some cases, deadly to anything that came near them. It was a harsh but thriving world, a world in which the survival of the fittest was a necessity and not a concept.

Then, something unique happened. The horizontal creatures, whatever they were called, picked up sticks and rocks and learned to better fend off predators with them, thus increasing their rates of survival. In time, these stick became pointed, the creatures lived in larger groups, and soon enough, they were joining together to take down massive insectoid creatures that could have fended off hydras and manticores.

Soon enough, the small villages became cities, surrounded by high walls. Civilizations arose and merged almost as fast as they disappeared into the dustbin of time. Technology advanced, city-states became kingdoms, kingdoms became empires, empires fell and republics grew in their wake. It was all eerily reminiscent of the history of Earth's many civilizations; they were never static, always changing, always moving along with time.

Time sped on, and in the blink of cosmic time, these creatures went from simple stick-wielding tribes to, to technocratic republics with elected leaders, to... something indescribable. They were in space, floating around in forms that were so unlike their own, and yet... they were the same creatures that had learned to so long ago fight off predators with sticks. In groups or by themselves, they colonized the universe, moved stars and planets and even black holes with nary a flick of their largest appendages, many times without so much as touching the object in question. Galaxies formed under their care, with stars coalescing into spirals, rings and other fantastic shapes.

On a very large but otherwise unassuming star, one being moved by a literal flotilla of the creatures, a crack formed.

"Wait, stars can't crack," Spike said, confused by the sudden change in the laws of physics. If Twilight had been watching this, the sheer impossibility of the sudden change in the star's behavior might have given her an aneurism.

"A regular star, yes: they cannot crack in the same sense as an egg or a rock, but this was no ordinary star," Celestia said as the crack on the special star continued to grow. The cosmic rulers backed away, curious as to what was happening. They seemed wary, and yet, at the same time... curious and relaxed, as if expecting something wonderful to happen. From the cracking star emerged several forked tails, and then two pairs of wings; many legs and talon-tipped fingers followed, and then in a silent motion, a single massive head emerged from the star, causing it to crumble in on itself and disappear completely.

"Hweyha, the first dragon." Celestia said simply as the creature unfurled its wings and tails to their fullest. "Your kind, Spike, was born in the fiery heart of an aging and magical star." It seemed to be too large to comprehend, larger than a normal star and by far larger than any planet. In fact, it looked like it could swallow the entirety of the Earth as if it were nothing more than a grain of salt.

The dragon looked around all of space with ten enormous yellow eyes, its massive head both terrifying and intriguing Spike. He felt a tremor of fear and a strange sense of familiarity travel up his spine as he saw the cosmic dragon survey those that stood before it. From all over the universe, the current rulers came to the dragon, gathering in numbers as uncountable as the grains of sand on all the world's beaches. Then, in an instant, the great dragon smiled and the creatures landed on its hide, working their way onto the scales and clearing away cosmic debris. Many came to rest upon its snout and seemed to vibrate every now and then, as if communicating with it on some unknown level, seeing as sound did not travel through space.

"What are they doing?" Spike asked. Hweyha didn't seem to mind the scores of beings crawling all over it; in fact, it seemed to enjoy it. They worked together, moving asteroid belts, forming planets, pushing wayward black holes into the supermassive black holes in the centers of many galaxies; all of this without so much as arguing or disagreeing. They truly were working in a harmony Spike had never truly seen before; it was almost as if they were of one mind and one body, extensions of a greater collective will.

"We are not sure, as even the oldest dragons did not remember much of their progenitor and the ones that came before them," the princess said softly. "Much of this is based off of folklore in galactic dragon culture, and even much of that is shrouded in secrecy and the decaying effects of deep time. We do know this, though; for countless years these rulers lived and worked with Hweyha, shaping and caring for the cosmos and then, just like that... they vanished."

"What happened to them?" the dragon beside her asked as the image showed the rulers of the universe simply fade away like a dream. They had seemed so powerful, and yet so serene, as if their entire existence had been devoted to nothing more than creating, caring for and maintaining... everything, really. In that moment, though judging by Celestia's words it would be a futile notion, Spike wished that he could meet one.

"Nopony, or dragon for that matter, knows," Celestia said. "We believe they may have moved on to a higher plane of existence; that they may be watching us now and, somehow, in some way, influencing our lives for the better. It was all they seemed to do in this life, so it is not unreasonable to assume they would be doing the same in another."

She cleared her throat as the image changed again. "Hweyha, for the first time in its life, was alone, and without the friends it had come to know through the universe's first rulers. Sad and despondent at its loss, it began to wither and die." On the ceiling, the mighty cosmic dragon curled up like a dog on a rug, tail and wings tucked close to the body. Its color began to fade, and the more time progressed, the more unhealthy the leviathan looked. Tiny flakes began to form on the massive being, and upon the image zooming in, Spike couldn't believe his eyes.

Dragons, great and small, of an infinite array of colors, shapes and sizes, were emerging from Hweyha's very scales like freshly-matured bees emerging from their honeycombs. These dragons looked upon their creator with many a gracious smile and love, and so did not leave Hweyha, even as it continued to die. More dragons formed from what died off of Hweyha, and after countless more eons, the original dragon that was Hweyha... was no more. All that existed was a vaguely dragon-shaped cloud of dragons, all living together in one giant, free-floating community.

And then, just like that, they began to separate, some by themselves and others in groups. These galactic dragons flew off into the great unknown, establishing themselves as rulers of planets, solar systems, entire galaxies. Many were violent at first, as had been the universe's first rulers when they were just beginning as a species, but in time, their behavior changed. They became benevolent, gentle, kind; they created and nurtured instead of destroying and ravaging. Countless civilizations arose under their care, spreading far and wide across the galaxies. Soon enough, the powers and forms of the dragons had eclipsed their old ones, just as the Primordials (as Spike now called them) had with their own. The universe was a thriving community of gentle and kind dragons and their cared-for civilizations, and then...

It all disappeared. Spike almost cried out as the images fell away into nothingness and the room brightened once more. The dragon found he was still on the island with Celestia, and the storm was still rumbling over them all. Rain continued to fall down outside of their secluded little alcove, and as Spike turned to look at Celestia, she smiled at him.

"So... did you like your history lesson, Spike?" Celestia asked as she traced a finger between the indentations of his pectorals. Now was the time to strike; he was confused, intrigued, and so utterly dazzled by what he had seen that he would be utter putty in her hands.

"I... uh... well... wow," Spike said, feeling as though his mind was spinning at millions of miles per hour. "What about the history of your kind? The alicorns?"

"That will come at a later date, if you're still interested," the princess said, drinking in Spike's masculinity. When she was too close to him, and in such a mood, she couldn't help but revel in the deep attraction Spike induced within her. "I thought you'd prefer to learn a bit more about your own kind first. So... any thoughts?"

"That... that was my kind's history? We dragons came from the first dragon, which was birthed in the heart of an enormous and magical star?" Spike was utterly impressed by what he had seen; he would love to learn history, or anything really, in that manner.

"More or less," Celestia said as she rolled over, so that her body was on top of Spike's own. "Did you like my spell?"

"It... it was amazing," Spike said, his brain trying to comprehend both his newfound knowledge and the fact that Celestia's naked body was pressing down on his own. "Twilight could sure take a lesson from you in presentation; her lessons are always boring."

"Well, she has not yet had time to master that spell, nor will she live long enough to have personally witnessed much of history," the alicorn princess said. "I have been alive for more than a few thousand years, Spike, but our kind's understanding of the universe is not yet near what it was during the height of the dragon's power, and not even close to that of the Primordials."

"So that is what they are called?" Spike asked as he felt some of his blood draining from his brain. Seriously, Celestia needed to get off of him, or else something might come between them: literally. "That's the name I thought for them; it seemed the most... fitting." What else would you call the very first rulers of the universe, beings so kind and benevolent that they seemed to defy explanation?

"Well, mister dragon, I do say you are a most attentive listener," Celestia said as she slowly slid her body up and down Spike's, her large and perky breasts dragging across his chest. The dragon's eyes were continuously increasing in apparent size, and if it weren't for the fact that cartoon physics had no application to the real world, they might have grown to the size of balloons and then popped.

"Celestia... what... hey... uh," Spike tried to say, but his words just tumbled out of his mouth with no real conviction or coherence.

Celestia ignored what he had to say and slowly slid her body lower, and lower, her breasts trailing down Spike's hard body. Soon enough, her large globes had nestled themselves over his groin, eclipsing his genitals from his view.

"Spike, I know you must be feeling confused, but do not fret," the princess said as she rubbed her breasts with her hands, pumping them up and down the length of Spike's inner thighs. "Think of this as a... "reward" for listening to me so closely and, might I add, patiently. And maybe as a bit of... comeuppance, for the events of last night."

Slowly but surely, Spike's arousal grew rigid and utterly erect at Celestia's bobbing breasts. The princess, upon seeing it reach its full and utterly impressive height in front of her, let her breasts fall from her hands and placed one to steady herself on Spike's thigh. With her other hand, she tenderly grasped Spike by his shaft and began to slowly move it up and down, the softness of her palm easily sliding over it.

The poor dragon leaned his head back and groaned as Celestia's motions made his blood boil, even as it drained from other parts of his body and pooled down in his groin. His erection flexing in time with her ministrations, Spike felt helpless to stave back the release building in him. In mere moments, it would-

"Celestia," he managed to croak out as a geyser of semen erupted from his penis, causing the princess to fall backwards, startled by the sudden release. Spike moaned, burying his face in his hands even as more of his cum flowed out and all over his penis, like hot wax rolling down a candle's sides. He had done it again: they had barely started, and he had already released.

Damn it.

The poor dragon couldn't even bring himself to look at Celestia, being as embarrassed as he was. In fact, if he had been looking, he might have seen a rather peculiar expression flicker across her face.

"Celestia, I'm so sorry, I couldn't hold it back, I-," Spike began, only for something soft and very wet to flicker over the length of his cock. Peeking through his fingers, Spike saw a sight he couldn't have imagined merely a week ago.

Celestia was licking his spent semen off of his body, her tongue performing long, gentle strokes. She seemed entirely into it, almost... enthusiastic. Along his cum-spattered thighs, around the globes where his dragon balls rested, and on the lower portion of his stomach; she was licking him clean in an eerily similar manner to what he had done to her the night before.

Spike let his hands drop from his face, his eyes taking in the sight before him, but his befuddled brain suddenly unable to process just exactly what he was seeing. Celestia... licking him... oh, it was more than enough to make his wilting arousal spring back up again, blood pumping into it more than ever before. The bobbing of her head with every sensual lick, the gentle and utterly fascinating way both of her breasts swayed in time with her motions; the utterly sultry look she was giving him every time they made eye contact.

Spike knew he wasn't dead, but if it turned out he was, he wouldn't be able to tell if this was a reward for a life well served, or a punishment for something he couldn't remember doing.

Before long, not only was all of his cum gone from his lower body, excluding his shaft, of course, but also Celestia was licking her lips in a rather savory manner, as if she had just finished a piece of a very sweet cake.

"Mmm, you have a very delicious taste, mister dragon," Celestia said, the purr from her voice making Spike's dick twitch slightly of its own accord. She looked down at his rigid shaft, dragon cum still covering much of him. "Oh my, it seems I missed most of it," she purred again, the low notes making Spike clench his fingers into the rocks under his hands. "I guess I'll have to... finish cleaning it up."

Before Spike could say another word, Celestia descended once again on him, her tongue flickering out and lapping at him. She started at his thick base, swirling her tongue around him like it were the world's largest and most erotic popsicle. She'd even stick her whole mouth on it sideways, as if she were trying to fit a cucumber into her mouth the wrong way. Spike didn't mind; in fact, he didn't care, or was even capable of speech right there. Celestia's tongue and lips were so soft, so mesmerizingly gentle on his shaft, that he could have sworn he felt his heart pumping more blood down to his nether region.

Soon enough, Celestia had finished with the longest part of the dragon dick before her; that left the crown, a thick mushroom-shaped cap that almost reminded her of a little top hat. Almost giggling to herself, she lowered her lead once more and, this time, sucked in the very tip of the cap.

The rocks under Spike's hands were crushed into powder as his hands balled into fists, the poor bits of compact sediment never even knowing what had just happened. Spike's tail, so lazily laying alongside him, slowly stiffened, swinging around behind him so that it looked like a rolled up sleeping bag was connected to his ass.

Spike muffled a whimper, not out of some sense of preventing his feelings from being known, but because his vocal cords couldn't seem to work. Celestia sucked on the tip of his throbbing erection as though it were a milk bottle for a foal. The sudden image of Celestia suckling on something, particularly a large milk-producing breast, sent Spike's brain into a sort of paralysis-induced trance.

As the princess continued to nurse from Spike's glans, the princess kept her eyes open and looked down at the throbbing piece of meat in front of her, unsure if to continue or try something else. She didn't think it'd fit all the way in her mouth, and she really didn't want to try that, as any failure would likely kill the mood. Seeing Spike's hole through which he had so recently expunged his delicious semen, Celestia sucked in the tip and, with an accuracy she didn't know her tongue possessed, she flicked the tip into the tiny little hole. Granted, it didn't go far by any sense of the word, but the effect on Spike was immediate; one of his hands flung out and embedded itself into the rock wall next to him, cracks forming from where the impact occurred.

Celestia looked up at Spike, a bemused smirk gracing her features. "Come now, Spike, those rocks never did anything to you," she said, her voice barely above that of a whisper but perfectly audible in the dragon's ears. "Come now, enjoy your prize." She enveloped the entirety of his glans once more, her saliva rolling out of the corners of her mouth and down the length of Spike's throbbing shaft. In the back of her mind, Celestia did wonder just how endowed Spike was when compared to stallions in her country, but something instinctual told her he was far larger than what you may call "normal".

Then, entirely by accident, the princess bit slightly into the cock in her mouth, her teeth lightly grazing underneath the swollen head. It was entirely instinctual, though on a very deep level Celestia had been wondering if the sudden sensation would push Spike over once again. She hadn't meant for it to occur; it just... had. Suffice to say, it did push Spike over the edge, but not nearly in the way she had thought it would. Spike somehow jumped backwards into the rock wall, completely removing himself from her mouth in one swift stroke, and shouted in a surprised yelp.

"Hey, what was that for?" he asked, the volume in his tone rising considerably. If he had been a bit younger, it might have cracked.

"I... I don't know, I wasn't entirely aware that... hurt," Celestia confessed, wiping some of her excess saliva from her lips. Truth be told, she didn't think it'd be a nice feeling to have teeth pressed into one's dick, but then again, how was she to know every kink and fetish a stallion, or in this case a dragon, had? Besides, it was an accident; it had been almost instinctual to just... bite down on something going into her mouth. Luckily for her she had a lover whose skin, or scales to be honest, couldn't possibly be penetrated in any way by her teeth.

"Well, it didn't hurt, but... you scared me!" Spike said, clutching his dick in a rather comically protective manner. "I don't want my... thing anywhere near your mouth if you're in a biting mood!" Considering what they had been doing (and were destined to do) on this island, it was kind of immature for Spike to not refer to his dick as, well, his dick. Then again, his mind didn't care about maturity at that point; it cared about avoiding bodily harm.

"Spike, just calm down," Celestia said as the dragon removed himself from the rock wall, a small and unfamiliar feeling rising from her gut. It was a rather ugly emotion, something she did not remember feeling on the island... or ever since the failed invasion of her kingdom. "I know you didn't like that, but it was an accident; I'm sorry."

"Really?" Spike asked, arching an eyebrow. "Or are you just saying that to get me to have sex with you?" He hadn't meant it to sting like that, but he was scared and lashing out at the only being on this island that he could talk to. Overall, likely not the smartest decision he could have made.

Celestia harrumphed, her voice rising slightly in pitch. "Are you saying I'd make a hollow apology like some common tart, just to get sex?" Regal attitude went out the window when passions flared, even more so when said passions were currently being used in an argument.

Yep: definitely not a smart decision on the dragon's part. Spike blanched at her words: Celestia's voice, when angry, was one thing. When she was indignantly enraged, it was almost... painful to experience. It was like you hurt, simply because she was hurting as well. "I... I didn't mean-"

"Oh, you didn't mean, did you mister dragon?" Celestia asked, her eyes taking on a pink hue as her demeanor rapidly changed. Her nostrils flared, her wings stood in a full (and rather intimidating) stance, and her hands balled up into fists. "You didn't mean to insult my honor with such a derogatory remark? You didn't mean to just... yell at me after I made an honest mistake? I can't know everything about everything, dragon! I may be an alicorn, Spike, but I'm still a pony, and still a mare, with feelings."

Spike didn't know what to say to that; this was a very emotionally deep part of Celestia he hadn't quite seen before. Insecure and afraid? In the poor dragon's head, these sides of her just... didn't suit her at all. It was as though she were another mare entirely, and not the princess he had come to know and develop... feelings for.

"Why can't you just accept that I can't be the perfect pony everypony else thinks I am?" the princess asked, her hands sliding down her cheeks like some overdramatic actress. "I've never known physical love in my entire life, and now that I have you doing all of this for me; yet for you to yell at me for making just one little mistake, due to my inexperience, is just... just... just... mean!"

Judging from the sudden change in her voice, Spike wasn't sure if she was going to maul him, start crying, or straight up force herself onto him like a deranged psycho. At this point, all three options seemed rather scary. "L-look, look, I'm sorry, okay?" he said, raising his hands in surrender as Celestia's mane, which had mere moments ago been flying around like there was a strong breeze, settled back behind her head. Her eyes lost their pinkish glow as well, though why they had turned pink, Spike didn't know. Her wings folded back behind her, but it seemed that "angry" Celestia had given way to something else. "I'm s-sorry for yelling at you, okay? I... I got scared was all. I didn't mean to just... make you feel bad, okay?"

"You... you sure?" Celestia asked, her voice losing its confidence and bravado. Now she sounded rather... meek, if that was possible. Such a sudden mood swing was something the young dragon was not at all familiar with, but it did ring a bell. He had spent a long time in Ponyville, and sure as sunshine, had seen more than his fair share of strange behavior patterns in mares, especially during certain times of the year...

The realization that he may have seen this exact sort of behavior before made something click in Spike's head; of course! It may have been a sudden occurrence, but Spike could have slapped himself for not seeing the signs sooner. "Celestia, are you... feeling horny right now? More so than you might, given our... situation?"

"Well, kind of, if that's okay with you," the princess said, kneeling and putting her hands demurely in her lap. "I... I don't know what to do, I'm so new at all of this, even my niece is more learned than I, I-,"

"Do you think it could be your heat starting up early?" the dragon asked, praying to some god, Hweyha for all he cared, that this could work. He hated having to interrupt her, but he had a slight feeling that if she started down a path like that, then she'd never stop. He didn't want a crying Celestia; his cultural "conditioning" to love and obey his princess made it hurt him possibly more than it hurt her. To her it was an emotional state; to him, it was not only that, but a bizarrely physical ache to see her so despondent like this.

"I... I guess so," the princess said, looking up at Spike with big eyes and a small pout. She would have looked downright adorable if it weren't for the fact she had just been screaming at him and had almost bit him in the dick. That, and Spike didn't find crying to be cute; just sad.

"Here, I have an idea," Spike said, closing the distance between them and kneeling down to look Celestia in the eyes. "I know you feel horny right now, but I need you to come back to me; the real you, not this... mood-swinging mare that just yelled at me. I want the Celestia that came to this island with me, the one who has been with me through all of our trials and triumphs so far. Think you can do that for me?"

"Do you really?" the princess asked.

"Of course I do," Spike said softly. "I care about you and don't want you to feel sad or alone anymore. I'm here now; please come back to me."

As soon as Spike finished his little reassurance, something about Celestia changed. Her demureness vanished, and for a brief second, confusion and regret flickered across her face. Then her mouth opened wide in a gasp, she looked Spike directly in the eyes and pulled him into an impressively strong hug.

"Oh Spike, I'm so sorry," she said, this time definitely sounding like she might cry. "I'm sorry I brought you into this. I had no choice, what with all the mistakes I've made, the plans I never bothered to adapt, but... it wasn't meant to be this soon!"

"This soon? Your heat? Is that what just happened?" the dragon asked, wondering why he felt like he could barely breath.

Oh, right: Celestia's massive melons pressing into his chest. Damn they were soft...

"You saw what was only the briefest glimpse of what is to come, Spike," the princess said, breaking their hug to look him in the eyes once more. "I can barely control my more... primal and emotional sides when my heat is in full effect. It is the price we alicorns pay for being so powerful, for being able to live for so long. But, for it to come this soon, and to just... override my control like that, if only for those few moments, I... I..."

"Hey, hey, come on now, it's not your fault," Spike said, gently wiping away a small tear from the corner of her eye. "You weren't expecting that to happen, any more than I was expecting it. How could either of us been prepared for... that?" To be honest, Spike could see a problem in the near future; when Celestia became like that, if that "side" managed to take control, if even for a short while, how in Tartarus as he going to respond to it if things got out of control?

"But... what if it happens when we least expect it, like it did just now?" Celestia asked, pressing her cheek into Spike's outstretched palm to comfort herself. "What if it happens... while we are... making love? How are you going to handle me when I won't even be able to handle myself?"

"Celestia, Celestia, we'll think of something," Spike said as he pulled her head to his chest, her own arms pulling him into a returned hug. "Come on, it couldn't be as bad as you say, now could it? I mean, you're Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria, and from what I saw, an heir to a tradition of grace, power and kindness that has been around since before even dragons were in existence. If you let this little hiccup in your life control you as you fear it may, then what does that make you?"

"Weak?" the princess asked. "Useless? Pathetic?" Celestia was never one to indulge in a pity-party, but at that moment, she just couldn't help herself.

Pity parties, by the way, were Pinkie Pie's least favorite kind of party.

"No, flawed," Spike said softly. "We are all flawed, Celestia, in our own ways. It is what makes us perfect at being who we are. To be perfect in every single way is, well, plain boring. Flaws, great or small, make you who you are. All you need to do... is accept them. I've more or less accepted mine, and you just need to accept yours is all." For an extremely powerful and long-lived being like Celestia, perhaps teaching humility was not always the forefront in their education as youngsters. Why should they? They practically ruled the universe, and being heirs to such a tradition, maybe they had just forgotten a few of the simpler aspects of interacting with others.

Even as she took comfort in Spike's embrace, Celestia felt a slight chill travel up through her spine and into her wings. Spike's philosophical and caring side was rather... comforting; more so than she might have guessed. Of course, though, when you've grown up with mares all your life, you tend to pick up on the perceived "feminine" trait of talking about your feelings with others. Stallions, in a broad sense, tended to keep their feelings to themselves, which could be good or bad, depending on the stallion in question.

But Spike was no stallion: he was a dragon, and in her fluttering heart, Celestia felt an emotion she had trouble describing. It was like the love she felt for her sister and niece, a deep kind of love, but this... this went deeper. It felt like it fell past the core of her being and strayed into her very soul.

"Spike," Celestia whispered, pulling her head up and out of his arms. "You... you truly are a marvelous creature."

The dragon shrugged, smiling in a somewhat sheepish manner. "Comes with the territory of being the only known dragon raised by ponies, I guess."

"No, no, I'm serious," Celestia said. "You... you are truly a gift to this world, Spike. Somehow, in some way, I think you'll understand what I mean." She couldn't quite explain exactly what she was talking about, or even what it all meant; she was running mostly on emotion here, after all.

"Well... okay," Spike said, not entirely sure if he should pursue the subject. Perhaps, for another time, they could discuss this. "So... now what?"

Celestia looked down slowly, seeing a very familiar (and still-pulsating) thing within her grasp. "Once you're up after a quick release, you don't wither quickly, do you?" she asked, giggling slightly in spite of herself.

Spike glanced down at himself, completely forgetting just aroused he had been mere minutes before. "Oh, uh... yeah, sorry about that," he said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "I uh, I've seemed to become rather swollen. Do you... do you think you could help me out?"

Spike's sheepish grin was somewhat roguish, even if he didn't know it. Celestia felt her rump tremble slightly as a shiver passed through her body. "I can help, of course," she said slowly. "But first, I'm going to need you to get on all fours."

Spike's eyes bulged slightly; Celestia may have been hot, but did... did she really just get kinky? Spike didn't know whether he liked where this was going or not. If anything was going to happen to him he didn;t like, then the deal was off; he didn't want her to do anything with his bu-

"Trust me," Celestia said as she lay back on the softer mushrooms once more, her wings spread out to her sides like an angel's. "Crawl over me, slowly."

Getting the message (and subsequently erasing a bizarre mental image from his brain), Spike did as he was told. Getting down on his hands and knees, he slowly crawled over Celestia, his still-hard cock lightly grazing over her stomach until, at last, it lay atop one of her large breasts. His hands were alongside her head, though thankfully her mane was not under them. It wouldn't do Spike any good to accidentally pull on the princess's mane now, would it?

"I want you to trust me with using my mouth again, Spike," Celestia began. "But first, I'm going to need you to try something else."

"What's that?" the dragon asked, wondering why her gaze seemed... mischievous.

"Rub the head of your... dragonhood on my nipples," the alicorn said, her hands coming up and pressing her breasts together, the action deforming their perfect shape slightly. She couldn't bring herself to say the word "cock", but this seemed a bit more... romantic than crude.

Spike stared down dumbly at the princess for a few moments before doing as he was told. Holding himself up with one hand and firmly grasping his aching shaft with another, he began to do as he was told. Pushing his tip against the erect little buds, he began to work the sensitive flesh with his own, the small circular motions around the edges of the areola eliciting soft sighs from Celestia.

"Am I doing this right?" Spike asked after a few minutes. This didn't exactly feel like something he'd want to do in the future, but it wasn't a chore in the slightest; more like... meh.

"Well, I can't see how you could be possibly doing it wrong," Celestia replied, looking from the hard cock to her breasts. Truth be told, other than the minor stimulation Celestia was feeling (it being nothing compared to when Spike suckled her the night before), this wasn't doing much for her. Maybe she just needed for him to put it somewhere else?

"Put it between them." Celestia never liked using a commanding tone with her subjects, but here, in this situation, it was the perfect tool to get Spike to do as she wished.

"Between what?" the slightly confused dragon asked. He didn't think putting it between her nipples would really do anything more than just look weird.

"My breasts, silly," the princess said with a giggle. "Come on now, you're more than long enough to not just... vanish in there." Oh, he was more than long enough; thick enough too, judging from the heft he had whenever he moved that big meat stick.

Spike did as he was told, inserting his cock between the tightly-pressed breasts before him. The effect was almost instant: Spike's balls twitched as they rested on Celestia's utterly soft pelt. Her pillows enveloped him so greatly, and with such a wonderful feeling, that he had to steady himself with both hands. It was like having your dick hugged by a cloud made of soft love, or the world's most expensive and fabulous pillows.

Oh yeah: Spike could definitely get used to a treatment like this.

"How does it feel?" Celestia asked, the heat from the shaft between her mounds feeling unearthly.

"A-a-amazing," Spike croaked out, wondering why they hadn't tried this sooner. Then again, it had only been a few days since they started these sexual acts, but still; this beat out a hand job any day of the week. "It's... it's so soft..."

"Mmm, I bet," the princess said as she firmly grasped her breasts with both hands. "What about this?"

She began to alternately pump her breasts up and down Spike's length, and for the dragon, his world began to collapse. All of his nerves felt nothing, save for those centered around his groin. To him, the entire world was just him, Celestia, and the amazing things she was doing to him with her breasts. He had no choice but to move his body in time with her pumps, but to do so, he had to sit up.

Celestia never would have thought it, but what she was doing... it was rather fun, to be honest. Not just the sex part, which to her was incredibly enjoyable to partake in, but how Spike was reacting; he had his hands on her breasts, letting her do all the pumping, but the cute if slightly pained expression on his face made her feel all warm and tingly inside. As she continued to pump, she noticed he started to do the same, his hips snapping forward in small but measured strokes. He was holding back, even if he didn't know it yet.

Switching things up, Celestia began to pump both of her breasts at the same time, causing the dragon above her to start panting in time with his own minute thrusts. Celestia even found it somewhat cute how his cock's cap would almost reach her chin on her downwards stroke, only to nearly vanish into the tight confines of her glorious bosom.

Spike was operating on instinct now, and loving the feeling of it. It was all he could do to not just pump as fast and hard as he could. So, instead, his hands began to knead Celestia's tender mammaries, his thumbs flicking the nipples for good measure. Inside of him, he was building up again, and with every thrust, he knew he was reaching a closer and closer release. His lungs ached for want of oxygen; his muscles were burning with the tension of holding back his release.

"Celestia, I... I..." he tried to say, only for the alicorn princess's next actions to throw him for a loop.

Raising her head, Celestia let his "other" head enter her mouth just enough so that his glands had disappeared. Then, she sucked on him: hard.

Right then and there, Spike released, his seed flowing freely into his lover's waiting maw. Cock bulging from the amount flowing through, balls twitching as they unleashed their load: the dragon felt it all happen. Celestia, to her still technically-virgin credit, was able to swallow a good portion of it before having to let go of his cock, the last vestiges of his seed spilling out over her chin and neck. Spike, exhausted, fell backwards and off of his princess, feeling as though he had just run the length and breadth of the island... twice.

Celestia gleefully swallowed and licked herself clean of his cum, the taste growing on her as she did so. She'd have to do something like that more often. Well now, that had to be at least equivalent to two of his "services" the other night. Sitting up as fixing her mane, she saw Spike laying there, completely out of it. He looked tired, the kind where you're not sleepy, but you just don't want to move for a while.

"Well Spike, how was that?" she asked.

All Spike could do was mumble a small "wow". Celestia, suddenly a bit famished, crawled over to the food bag and ate a few cherries. She would have offered something to Spike, but seeing as how he could barely move at that moment, she thought it best to just let him rest.

Besides, she needed her strength; no doubt the dragon was planning her own "gift' even as he sat there.


	10. Everything's Going Down(hill)

Chapter Ten

Everything's Going (Down)hill

In Ponyville, six friends were gathered at the Ponyville library. They had been doing this every day ever since they had seen Spike off with Princess Celestia. The possibility of the world ending tends to put a damper on festivities, and even though the rest of Equestria knew nothing of what might happen, these six had managed to keep their composure so far. It had been tough, of that they were sure: not even Applejack's family knew, and keeping it from them was harder for her than the others, what being the Element of Honesty and all.

"Girls, I know we have no idea of what is going on out there with Celestia and Spike," Twilight began, looking at her circle of friends. "They are likely off doing something extremely dangerous and important to save the world. I trust they can save it: I believe without a doubt they can. But I've been doing some observations of the sun with my filtered telescope, and the calculations I've deduced are not exactly... good."

"Whaddaya mean, Twilight?" Applejack asked, fiddling with her braided mane. She usually did whenever they gathered for these meetings, if only because she was itching to get something done: she was always busy or trying to be busy, that Applejack.

"Well, based on a spike in sunspot emergence, an increase in certain solar wind activity and several other influential factors, I believe Celestia's calculations may have been a bit off as to the occurrence of the "event" she told us about. You know how she said there were several weeks left before the possibility of the end?"

"Yes?" Rarity said slowly, unsure of what her friend meant. "I believe she said three, to be exact, and they haven't been gone for more than a week. Why? What do these signs indicate?"

"Well, these signs... they all point to this happening much sooner than anticipated." Twilight sounded rather down; understandable, given the circumstances.

"How much sooner?" Fluttershy asked. Her animal friends had seemed on edge, even though she hadn't told any of them about the event. Perhaps they could tell something was wrong, as the sun-induced weather in the Everfree Forest had been rather odd lately. Even the clouds around Ponyville had been a tad troublesome recently, something Rainbow Dash had been very glad to share with everypony else, though she did not tell anypony else outside of the Elements of Harmony exactly why.

"Within days, not weeks," the purple unicorn said. "In fact, I would say within the next three days, to be precise. It could happen within ten hours for all we know; I think of any observations that would give me a clearer answer."

"I hope Celestia and Spike know about this," Rarity said softly. "Who knows what they could be doing right now?" Terrible and awe-inspiring images raced through the minds of the mares: a prehistoric crater, a thick jungle, a terribly vast mountain range, and perhaps even ancient monuments in the middle of an unforgiving desert.

"I'd send them a letter if I could, but Celestia wasn't able to teach me the magic for sending Spike a letter as she does," the purple mare said softly. "I doubt they'd have time to send us anything anyway. They're probably in terrible danger as it is, or else in the middle of something incredibly important."

Meanwhile, on the island...

"Spike, how did... you get... so good... at this?" Celestia asked between moans as the dragon kneaded one breast with one hand and her tired neck with the other, her toned rump resting against his abdomen. Her soft wings pressed against his chest, and his long shaft protruded out from underneath her, which she was gently stroking with one hand. The other was cupping and teasing the soft scales on his balls, which had slightly shrunken from all of the times he had thus ejaculated under her stimulation.

"Well, the massaging part... that was from helping the spa twins... on busy days, and when I needed... the money," Spike replied between pants of his own, Celestia's soft fingers making heat pool in his belly. "You'd be surprised... how many mares... need a good neck massage... after a long day at work."

"Any of... your friends... receive one?" the alicorn asked, her loins burning to be filled with Spike's fingers as they had been not too long ago. How long had they been exploring each other's bodies like this: two hours? Three? Time passed by rather quickly when you were having this much fun, and for Celestia, even in the midst of the impending solar-related crisis, was having a blast. She had been wrong to not seek out a sexual partner in all her time as one of Equestria's princesses. To think, she had been missing out on things like this for all these years...

"No... though I did... give Fluttershy... a hoofrub... after she fell sick helping those... squirrels in a rainstorm," Spike said, snapping her out of her personal thoughts. "She really liked it, since... she fell asleep... soon after I finished."

"Hmm, sounds like... a good way to... help a friend," Celestia said, moaning softly as Spike's kneading hand circled and lightly pinched her puffy nipple. "Spike?"

"Yes?" the dragon asked as his massaging hand pressed his thumb firmly but gently into the princess's lower back, sending wave after wave of soothing relief to her lower back muscles. Having gone this long without a supporting dress to "carry her load", Celestia was surely feeling a bit of strain holding up her large breasts. After all, the body can only adapt to a form for so long before it begins to "trim away the excess" so to speak, and as such, her lower back muscles were not as developed as they would be had she been naked for months on end.

The thought of Celestia almost permanently naked made Spike's cock twitch slightly harder in her hand.

"Do you... do you think we should... get to that alcove I told you about?" the princess asked. "The rain stopped a while ago, and... surely it wouldn't take us long to get there."

"Aw, do we... have to?" Spike asked, her grip ever-so-slightly tightening on him showing she meant business. "Okay, okay, I give."

"I'd think it best," she said, letting go altogether and pushing herself up onto her hooves and out of his lap. "Come now, we can continue this later."

Spike's engorged dick agreed with her sentiments. "Okay, I guess so," he said, standing up himself. "Though when we get there, we'd better get something to eat; all of this "experimenting" has made me hungry," he added, giving her luscious rump a light slap. The bracelet his friends had given him was the only thing he wore, and it jingled slightly as he walked.

"Indeed," the princess said with a giggle as she watched the dragon pack up their food. If her calculations about the alcove were correct, then they would find more than enough food and water to sustain them until well after the end of their mission. After all, it was a retreat within a retreat: a sanctuary on this sanctuary of an island, if you will, and it was plainly bountiful from the air as they had passed overhead only a few days ago.

So the pair of them walked, their bodies gradually winding down from the heightened states of awareness brought on by their mutual arousals. However, for Celestia, a thought had entered her mind that she wasn't sure she felt comfortable sharing with her soon-to-be lover. Now, she knew that no more secrets would be between them, and eventually she'd tell Spike about alicorn history, or at least the gist of it, but their upcoming union would provide them with a problem she sincerely did not know how to cope with.

Pregnancy; there was the chance, after all, that after all was said and done, she could wind up pregnant. Having sex during her cycle didn't necessarily mean she'd get pregnant, as many ponies throughout both history and Equestria could have sex during their heat and not conceive. She, however, was a different case altogether; she was an alicorn, a creature of the stars with magic and might so unlike those of the natural creatures of the Earth. Normally, this coupled with the fact that her parents would eventually want grandfoals meant she'd have to have her own foals someday, and to be honest, she did want them. She wanted to be a mother, even if it meant more complications in her life, and with those complications could arise several problems within Equestria she had been managing to put off for many years; mainly succession and hereditary titles and such. But... when she was younger, she'd envisioned her partner being an alicorn stallion, as her father had been for her mother and so on and so forth. She had never expected circumstances would lead to her potential partner being a dragon of all things.

She'd never expected to be falling head over hooves for him either.

"Is this love?" she whispered to herself as they walked on, their steps clambering slowly but methodically over the steeper incline of the rocky slopes. The grasses were behind them, and all that met their paces was gravel and the occasional bit of moss. "Is this what I feel when I'm around him?"

Celestia had known many ponies over centuries, some better than others, and she had liked so many of them in so many different ways. Yet... with Spike, she couldn't help but notice how she felt was... off when compared to the others. When he was around her, her heart beat a little quicker, her breath was a bit short when he touched her, and when they slept side by side, she knew a peace she had never known alone in her Canterlot bed. He was intoxicating to her now, and as much as she wanted it to be true, if only for the sake of not wanting either of them to be hurt, she knew it wasn't her heat talking. She innately knew that her attraction to this absolutely fine and virile specimen of a dragon (and male, at that) was deeper than just physical need and want, which actually were two different things. No, she also desired Spike in ways that weren't sexual in the slightest; she wanted to be close to him, to both protect and be protected by him. She wanted to know his darkest secrets, and him hers; she wanted to teach him the ways of alicorns and royalty, and in turn be taught by him in the ways of common folk and dragons.

Yes, there was no doubt about it; Celestia was falling in love with Spike. Hard.

But with that love came a risk of hurt, something she didn't ever want to happen. Even if they fell madly in love and made it out of all of this unscathed and unburdened with a pregnancy, their relationship would never be the same. It never could be the same; after all, how could anypony go back to a similarly previous relationship after having sex and sharing their deepest secrets with one another? A relationship of subject and ruler, where the lines between social classes and societal roles was not only stark but subtly enforced by the country: how could any go back to that?

The stress of it all would likely tear them apart, and Celestia didn't want to hurt Spike. She knew if he was hurt enough by what would happen after all of this, he'd become something unlike what he was. He'd no longer be the cheerful, brave, kind and gentle soul he was; he'd become aggressive, sullen, cold and distant. He would become a stranger to both his friends and to Celestia herself, and that horrified the princess. She would lose the one she had come to care for, to... love, and if that happened... surely she would fall into a despair that would make Luna's transformation seem like a childish tantrum. He would still be there in body, but in mind and spirit... he would be dead to her, and she would likely follow suit.

"The dangers of love," she muttered softly as they continued on. Her parents had warned her all those years ago about the follies of preconceived notions of love. She had always thought it to be something beautiful and mysterious, unending and irreplaceable. But she had learned over the centuries through countless observations that love always came with a price and its own hardships. The question was, was she willing to let Spike in and help her weather the storm of such a love? Was she willing to share in the load that society, of both the Earth and the celestial, would thrust upon them?

Perhaps more importantly, if she did wind up pregnant, what would their offspring look like? Equal parts dragon and alicorn, or an odd combination of the two; would it be a filly or a colt? How would they raise it? Who would be the godparents, and who would help oversee a wedding if they did indeed become married, regardless of whether it was before or after a birth? Such questions thankfully replaced some of the more dour ones in her head, but one little nagging thought kept emerging in the alicorn's head.

If she did indeed become pregnant, certain steps would have to be taken to not only ensure the survival of her child, but that of Spike was well. Granted, most ponies wouldn't give a flying hoof about if Celestia had a foal with a dragon, and it was extremely hard to kill dragons anyway, but there were always those "purists" out there who insisted pegasi breed pegasi, unicorns make unicorns, and earth ponies stick with earth ponies. The only thing was, what would they have to say about alicorns?

"Well, whatever they do say, it'll likely be of no concern once mom and dad come for a visit," Celestia muttered to herself. If they nigh-worshipped herself and Luna, Celestia could only imagine the awe and worshipping nature that would sweep the country should her own parents show up. The thought of seeing her parents did fill the princess with a joyful feeling; even for an alicorn whose lifespan was measured in millennia, time away from loved ones could still be viewed as an unhappy circumstance. She had not seen her parents since her first heat, when she left Earth behind to ask them about it, and Luna had not seen them since they had come to Equestria in the first place. Of course, Celestia had been quick to tell her parents of Luna's fall and eventual redemption, something they had both not expected but did not interfere with. Interfering with the rule of their daughters was strictly prohibited by the council, for how else would Celestia and Luna learn and grow in wisdom and understanding if somepony held their hands the whole way through their rule?

Happy thoughts aside, Celestia knew her parents would want to see their grandfoal within a few weeks of the birth, and would likely like to visit every few months or years, depending on how busy their schedules were. Luckily for Celestia, marriages in alicorn society were more of a symbolic statement that one or both partners were "off the market", so to speak, and not a social stigma delegating the end of one's single life. Still, it was generally frowned upon if one was especially promiscuous and never took responsibility for their resulting offspring, regardless of their own gender. Her parents were no exception, and while she wouldn't have to marry Spike right away, they would not be too happy if he never popped the question. Her parents were still a traditionalist pair, where the stallion would propose: only thing was, if Spike did indeed do that, what would he present as a gift?

But along the lines of actually having a foal, it wouldn't exactly be a precedent. Alicorns and dragons had occasionally had offspring together in the many years they had known one another, and dragons had literally bred with everything living on Earth at least once, but... those dragons that had bred with alicorns had been ascended to their celestial forms, as had the alicorns, and as such the hybrid had not been much more powerful at old age than at birth. Spike was not ascended, and as such any offspring they had would need to go through the ascension process, since they would only inherit Celestia's half-ascended side. She didn't have to be in her ascended form to pass it on, but Spike's un-ascended-ness could pose a problem if the foal did indeed ascend, since he too would have to in order to make the ritual complete.

But enough of ascension and foals and visiting alicorn parents: Celestia had one more little thing to focus on, and that was what all this would do to a certain group of ponies. The only other real problem she saw was how Spike's friends would react to the news he had not only had hot steamy sex with Celestia of all ponies, just to save the world, but had also begotten her with a foal (if he did) in the meantime. Now there was something she'd likely never predict accurately: of all of them, Twilight's reaction would likely be the loudest. Her faithful student had always had a knack for raising an uproar, if even by herself, over things others might not feel so strongly about.

Little did the alicorn know, Spike was having thoughts that eerily mirrored her own.

"It won't be long now," Spike said softly as they worked their way up a winding, almost staircase-like path up the volcano. "Her heat's coming early; what if I'm not ready?"

Truth be told, Spike was still rather terrified of the idea of having actual "penis inserts into vagina" sex with Celestia. He had to admit he must have so far been doing a remarkably good job of sexually pleasing her, but the prospect of him actually "sealing the deal" had him worried. Sure, his stamina problem was beginning to sort itself out (what with all these bouts of sexy-time), but he still knew him "finishing" early could be disastrous for the both of them.

For instance, say her heat did fire up a bit early into the session and her more aggressive side would refuse that he was done so quickly. The love-making would likely turn into something more resembling rape, and Spike didn't like rape. Rape is bad; very bad. He wanted Celestia to be the one he was making love to, not some hormonally crazy, all-powerful alicorn whose heat could destroy all life on Earth. He also didn't want to contemplate I in the throes of her heat she would change into something far more resembling what he guessed would have been her celestial form; he'd likely not be up to the task then. So, if he did finish early, and she did fall into that state or worse, there was only one thing he could do.

Keep on plowing into her like he hadn't stopped. Yes, that was the best plan he could think of; should Celestia go heat-crazy, and possibly "ascend" or something, he would have to keep on going until she was satiated, or he collapsed from lack of energy. Either way, he'd likely have a heart attack from such a strenuous task, and even if he didn't, he'd be so sore he likely couldn't have sex for a long while.

So, to save the world and himself from a potentially hormonally-crazed goddess-like mare, he'd have to lose all inhibitions and fuck her like a beast.

Well, when he put it that way...

"Spike?" Celestia called out, temporarily snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" he said as he looked back. He hadn't realized he had climbed up onto a stone slab jutting out from the alcove. He was even more surprised they had even reached there so soon.

"Could you help me up?" the princess asked, extending a hand upwards. "I'll flap my wings a bit, if that helps."

"Sure, yeah, here," the dragon said, leaning down and grabbing onto her offered hand. With a slow but steady heave he pulled her up, her large flapping wings most definitely helping. However, Spike overcorrected for her weight, and soon the two tumbled on top of one another on top of the slab.

"Spike, I must say you don't know your own strength," the mare said with a giggle as she rose to her hooves. She was just so cheery after their sexual games; it made her feel all tingly inside.

"Yeah, well, I'm glad to see your wings work again," the dragon said as he stood up as well. "Though, I gotta ask, how are we going to get off the island when all is said and done?"

"Well, originally we were going to take my carriage back, but you're right to wonder that," Celestia said as they continued on. "Nopony knows where this island is and could get lost looking for it, I definitely can't carry you back while flying, and I most certainly won't have you become some giant dragon and swim us back."

"Why not? That last one sounds reasonable," Spike said.

"For starters, Spike, if you indeed become a giant dragon, I have no doubt it will be so great a struggle for you to try and control it, you wouldn't be able to focus on swimming and would likely sink or revert to your normal size," the princess said. "If anything, we'll have to construct a boat of some kind, perhaps a simple sailboat. My magic is nearly at full power, but the distance to transport us magically is far too great, in case you were wondering."

"So a sailboat it is," the dragon said as they passed some patches of grass. They must have been nearing the alcove, as the rocks had given way to soft silt and dirt. "Do you know how to work one?"

His thoughts resumed, and strangely they were not still focused on the possible problems of their future relationship, but on the positive aspects. As he had figured out before, by the time the rumor mill had run its course, he would be one of the most sought-after creatures in all of Equestria, especially by mares. Who wouldn't want to go to bed with the only creature to ever pleasure Princess Celestia? Sure, he had thought of this before and realized he was a tad selfish for thinking this way, but he now realized it did open up a door for him he hadn't thought of. If he were to move in with Celestia and indeed live with her, he'd be moving out of the library and be leaving Twilight. While that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, what with him living in the palace of all places, it would definitely change not only his relationship with Twilight, but indeed with all of the Elements of Harmony. Maybe he could get Celestia to purchase him a small villa or something on the outskirts of Ponyville, heading up to the mountains? He always liked that part of town; maybe his inner dragon just liked the geology.

"I would be able to enchant it to sail itself, so yes," the alicorn replied, her melodious voice snapping the dragon out of that line of thought for good. "However, there is still the issue of... us."

"Us? Us how?" Spike asked. Maybe asking for a villa would be too much? What about a nice cottage, or a refurbished cave fit enough for anypony to live in or visit? He'd read all about early pony settlers making quite nice homes built into hillsides, so why not something similar with a cave? Maybe in Canterlot he could even fix up those vast caves underneath the palace where Chrysalis had imprisoned Twilight and Cadence. He'd need lots of help, though...

"Well, we're... not fit for civilization, you see," the princess said with a slight blush. After all their time together completely naked, you'd think she was over it. But no; there was still that thrill of such a taboo as being naked with Spike and arriving on Equestria's shores as such. Perhaps ponies wouldn't react so badly if they came ashore in something a bit more... decent. "I'll be sure to make us some clothes as well with my magic. As it stands, other than my crown and your bracelet, we are completely unclothed."

"Yeah, I guess I see your point," the dragon said, rubbing the back of his neck in a slightly awkward manner. "I don't think too many ponies would make a fuss about you being naked, but me? I'd never hear the end of it from Twilight; forever embarrassing her and her family, since they taught me better manners than that. The same goes if we were seen together naked; do you think ponies could guess what we were up to out here?"

"Likely, as Equestria is not overly populated by dimwits," Celestia said. "Plenty would be able to connect the dots, but that does not concern me, Spike."

"It doesn't?" the dragon asked. Sure, the upper class would gossip about it for a while, but if it were common knowledge, then who knew just what the rest of the country would think? Better yet, just what would his friends think?

"No, Spike," the princess replied as they strolled past some small shrubs and trees. They must have been nearly there, as they could hear the falling of water not too far off. "No, Spike, I am less worried about what society will do and more about how your friends will react to all of this."

"Yeah, I was thinking that too," Spike said. "I mean, I know Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy probably wouldn't be too bothered, and Rainbow Dash might even joke about it or tell me "attaboy" or something. Applejack might not be too happy I wasn't honest with them about it all, and Rarity... she'd either see me as a way into Canterlot's innermost circle, or not react at all. But Twilight..."

"You're afraid of what she might say?" the alicorn asked, finishing the dragon's sentence for him. After all this time together, even for only a few days, it was becoming evident that they were sharing a bond far stronger than they might have first guessed.

"More along the lines of what she might do," the dragon replied. "I mean, we're close, but lately I've felt she's less like family and more like a really good friend. I mean, come on, I was never raised by her after I was hatched: her parents did that, and my name is Spike! Spike! It's a name more suited for that of a pet than a brother, right?"

"I cannot praise Twilight's ability to give a name in her younger years, and though the name suits you, Spike, I can see your point. Twilight views you as a close friend as well, and to keep this secret from her would indeed likely hurt that relationship very much," Celestia said. "The sad thing is, she likely wouldn't be angry at me for keeping it from her, as she is my student and is far more willing to let my faults and failures slide than she is yours or hers. I'm afraid most of the kingdom is like that, anyway; only you, Cadence and Luna know the real truth."

"Hey, come on, everypony has faults, and yours are no different than any other pony's," Spike said, trying to soothe the princess as they came upon the alcove. All around them fruits of all kinds hung from the trees, and a small babbling brook of clean water wound through the grasses, boulders and shrubs. The ground was covered with moss and tiny mushrooms, but they were not slippery, perhaps due to all of the other foliage soaking up the excess moisture in the air. Sunlight shone in most of it, and yet there were plenty of enclosed spaces to take shelter from rain and wind. If Spike could have built a small cottage anywhere in the world and still been able to visit Ponyville as often as he liked, then here is where he would have wanted it.

"But no other pony's faults can destroy the world like mine can," the princess said softly as they came to a well-concealed spot within the alcove. "I was tasked by my parents to help the ponies of this country, and by example, the world, lead better lives and live in harmony. What sort of hypocrite am I to just... fall victim to a biological function after stressing the need for heat control and parental testing? How could I look my subjects in their eyes knowing that, should this succeed, I almost ended them all?"

"Hey, come on now, don't say things like that, you're just feeling bad for something you made a mistake about," the dragon said, gently turning her to face him. "You just... just... oh my."

Celestia knew that look in Spike's eyes: surprise and a hint of fear. She had seen that same look before, and not too long ago at that. "What is it?" she asked quickly.

"Your eyes... they're pink again," Spike said, unintentionally taking a small step back. "Are you... feeling okay?"

"I don't know... maybe?" the alicorn responded, her lower body tingling strangely. "Just... we'll just wait for it to pass while we eat, all right?" She didn't feel angry or horny or anything else, really; the feeling in her lower body was more... excited than anything else, and for the life of her, she had no idea why.

"And if it doesn't?" the dragon asked, arching an eyebrow as he slowly lowered their food bag to the soft grass below. Maybe if he didn't make any sudden movements, she wouldn't lunge for his junk. There was no telling what a heat-crazed Celestia would do, since he was the only male within who-knew-how-many hundreds of miles.

"Then I guess we'll have to find a way to make it stop," the princess said softly, settling herself down next to her soon-to-be lover. "Could you pass the sugar cane? I never knew sex like this could be such an exhausting endeavor."

"Yeah, well, if anything it's only going to get more strenuous for the both of us," Spike said as he bit into a mango. "Tell me, Celestia, what happens between us after all of this?"

"All of what?" the princess asked, not sure as to which exact subject the dragon was talking about.

"You know, after the whole "save the world through sex" thing," the dragon said after he swallowed. "What happens after that? Assuming we've already left the island and made it back in one piece."

The alicorn was silent for a few moments as she softly chewed a few berries. "Well," she began, striking a thoughtful pose. "I do believe we would have to inform Luna of what transpired, if only for the sake of sating her curiosity. I would likely do most of the talking, though, since she's never been rutted either during a heat phase, or at all, really, so naturally she'd be curious as to the experience."

"Maybe I shouldn't be in the room when you talk about it," Spike said, managing to hide a small blush that was forming. "You know, sisterly conversation and all that; I'd be out of place."

"I suppose you are right, Spike, but after my sister and niece-,"

"Wait, you'd want to tell Cadence too?" the dragon asked, arching an eyebrow in surprise. Cadence wasn't notorious or anything for sharing gossip, but the same could not be said for her husband, Shining Armor. He had gossiped more at the academy with his bunkmates than any other recruit, or so Spike had heard from Twilight.

"Yes, of course: I see no reason not to," Celestia replied. "She is my niece, after all, and would need to be brought up on the political developments our "liaison" would most assuredly cause. Politics would be an important factor in any future decision we would make together, Spike."

"I... guess. I mean, I understand Luna, but Cadence? Would you go to the Crystal Empire to do that?" Spike asked.

"Likely not," was the reply. "Now, after Luna and Cadence, there would be the issue of my parents be inf-,"

"What?! Your parents?" Spike asked, his voice raising in pitch just a little bit more than he would have liked. "You'd have to tell them that soon?"

"Well, no, not exactly," the princess said with a rather amused grin. "They would come for a visit, most likely, though when they would arrive would be entirely up to how busy their schedule would be."

The thought of meeting Celestia's parents made Spike suddenly doubt he could do this. Even if it did save the world, how could he prepare himself to meet the parents of his lover, a pair of alicorns who must have been many thousands of years old and sat on some high council of their kind? The word intimidated likely wouldn't do justice to Spike's behavior in their presence; he'd be lucky if he didn't grovel like an idiot or just faint dead away.

"Spike?" a voice said, causing the dragon to snap out of his thoughts. "Spike, are you okay? You... seemed out of it for a bit there," the princess said as she bit into another piece of sugar cane.

"Oh, I uh, I was just... thinking," he said in reply. "So... after talking to Luna, Cadence and your-," he shuddered slightly "-parents, who would we tell next, if at all? My friends?"

"I was thinking so, but I wanted your opinion on the matter," Celestia said. "Your friends are like family to you, or at least, most of them are. Tell me, are you afraid of how they might react should we both tell them the news?"

"Well, you see, I'm not worried how they'd react if we told them, since you're the princess and they would "understand" that this needed to happen. But if you weren't there, they'd likely bombard me with questions I'd rather not answer, or even worse, treat me differently for doing this," the dragon said. "I mean, they're my friends, but how would they react knowing I had sex with you, of all ponies, in order to save the world? Surely you can imagine the fallout that could hang around me like some cloud whenever I was with them? That's not even factoring in the rumor mill that could somehow come of this, and then... poof: my life would never be the same."

"Neither of our lives will be the same after this, Spike," Celestia said, a peculiar itch emanating from her lower body. All this talk of them having sex was working her up, but not in a horny way; more in a... "problem that needed relieving" way. "Your life will change more than my own, but I would have to help "show you the ropes", as they say, for you to make the best of it. There's no telling how your friends or my family will react to this, so for the time being, let's not think too much on the future, all right?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me," Spike said, swallowing a couple of cherries. They sat in silence for a while longer, until Spike noticed something... odd with the princess. More specifically, she seemed to be subtly grinding her hips against the ground, and she didn't even seem to realize it. "Celestia?"

"Yes, Spike?" the princess asked, and now Spike could see it. Her pink eyes were there, but the flushing of her cheeks, the slight pant when she spoke, the subtle grinding: she was becoming very horny, and it seemed just eating and talking hadn't done anything to calm her "wild" side.

"Are you feeling all right?" the dragon asked.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I do feel a bit... funny," she said, and with a giggle rolled onto her back, her wings fanning out to the side like massive sails on a ship. Her legs spread slightly, exposing her core, complete with a droplets leaking from the lower edges. "Do you think you could... help me out? As a favor between friends?" Well, technically they were lovers, but to be considered a friend of Celestia's was not something everypony could lay claim to.

Anyway, who in their right mind could resist a request like that? Especially with that pouting face she was making as she gently arched her back, her breasts bobbing slightly on her chest: Spike's heart rate possibly doubled right then and there. Still, he forced himself to at least try and remain calm; no sense in going overboard with this. She just needed some help "down there" was all, right? Nothing too difficult for Spike!

Crawling over slightly, Spike propped himself up on his knees so that he could rest his elbows on the princess's own knees, should he grow tired. So, spreading the creamy white legs a bit farther apart, the dragon got to work, starting off with a slow massage up and down the interior of the alicorn's thighs.

"Hmm, that feels good," Celestia crooned, some of her syllables blurring together as the rest were drawn out in a long moan. Her hands came up and gently cupped her own breasts, if only to stop them from jiggling with every breath.

"I bet," Spike said, his fingers pressing gently into the white pelt. "Have you ever had massages before like this?"

"Never," the princess said simply. "I've had back massages and such, but something like this... it was just too embarrassing from me to contemplate." She peered through the valley of her breasts at him. "You could make a fortune with those fingers, Spike."

"I'll have to keep that in mind," the dragon said as his fingers inched closer and closer to the princess's dripping core. It was puffed up and leaking those same fluids he had tasted from her during their little "eating" game only the day before. His own saliva began to be produced in earnest, but he managed to keep himself from drooling at the beautiful sight. Soon enough, his fingers gently traced tiny circles around the outside of Celestia's exposed core, and gently, he began to rub that strange little bump that had appeared.

Like a firecracker, Celestia felt as if her nerves had exploded, her body twitching in response to the dragon's ministrations. Even though he was merely grazing and sometimes pinching with the utmost care, to the princess, it was like she had been set on fire. She loved it.

"Are you all right, princess?" Spike asked with a smirk, noticing the look on her face. In all their time together, Spike was becoming better and better at reading the princess's body language, something he'd never really had time for before all this.

"I... I thought... we agreed you... you would call me by... by my name," Celestia choked out her lover rubbed her little nub. It was taking all of her focus just to talk and breathe at the same time, and even that was becoming rather difficult.

"Okay, Celestia, but are you all right?" the dragon asked, his thumbs parting her folds so that even more of her tender, unexplored flesh was exposed to the open air. As if on cue, a small draft fluttered between them, and the princess shuddered mightily. Sex indoors might have been the norm for most, but all of this sexual exploration seemed so much more... fitting for the pair of them.

"I'm... I'm fine, just... just... just keep going," she sputtered out, sounding as if her salivary glands were on overdrive and she could barely swallow fast enough to speak. That or her tongue had somehow become swollen with lust; either way, she was having a hard time speaking coherently.

Smirking, the dragon leaned down and blew a gentle bit of air into the exposed petals before him, his hot breath washing over the princess like a warm blanket. Only, it seemed to go inside of her, filling her body with a kind of warmth that made any medicine seem like a joke in comparison. He kept on breathing softly into her, and to the princess it seemed as though every breath he sent into her was expelling some of the air from her own lungs. Trouble was, she was having the hardest time remembering how and when to breathe.

Then she felt lips against her exposed core, and the alicorn princess squeezed her breasts: hard. The sudden pain of doing so mixed incredibly with the pleasure of that carnal kiss, and she arched her back as her dragon lover continued to kiss her lips, outer and inner, then back again to outer. Her head was spinning on her shoulders, around and around and with no way of stopping. She even let go of her breasts, her fingernails having left little trails in the softness expanse of her pelt, and grabbed onto the sides of her head, if only to try and stop the feeling of the spinning. Remarkably, it seemed to work, but then something happened she had not been expecting.

Something wet, wriggling and very, very warm wiggled its way into her lower lips, barely going in an inch but feeling as though it had penetrated as far as her stomach. Looking down in shock, lust and awe, Celestia saw Spike's tongue lazily worming its way further and further into her, small streams of her juices leaking out around the ribbon-like invader. The forked tips touched parts of her nothing else had; the texture of the tongue danced around in her insides like a whirlwind of flame. For all she knew, Celestia was dying, and yet... she was more alive than she had ever felt.

"Spike," she managed to croak out, and it indeed sounded like a croak, like that of some bullfrog or toad or even a sexy leopard frog. "What-,"

"Shh," the dragon admonished, his words rumbling up his tongue and into her body. Suffice to say, her already hyper-sensitized nerves danced in her body like a carnival. "Just... relax."

Celestia would have done as he said, but something came over her, a force she knew would come but she had been holding in check. Yes, her heat arrived, and as her eyes glowed a bright pink hue, she threw her head back and let out a throaty moan. Taking her legs, she hooked the back of the dragon's head and pulled him in closer, squishing his tongue and lips deeper into her core. Her hands combed through her mane as the dragon started to make slurping noises. Maybe he had known it would happen, for he did not react to the sudden pressure; if anything else, the slurps became louder, almost obscenely so.

"He's drinking me!" the princess thought, her mind becoming increasingly addled as an unsatisfied heat was finally becoming satisfied. She could feel his tongue reach out and retreat, drawing with it the collective juices she had been producing. The erotic sight of his drinking her, lapping at her folds like a fellow dying of thirst, made Celestia's grip on the back of his head tighten.

In a flash, the dragon's arms were under those powerful and slender legs, and with one swift motion, he stood up, his face towards the ground and buried in the princess's groin. Celestia, momentarily confused by the sudden reversal of her position, steadied her upside-down body with her hands and held on for dear life as the dragon continued to drink her dry. His arms shifted quickly so that one still held her by one leg, but the other was wrapped around her waist, the natural curvature of her hips prevent her body from sliding out of his grip.

She craned her neck to see his own arousal twitching, and she wanted to reach out with her tongue, to give it a deeper taste, to give as good as she was getting, but she could not bend like that, and so, as one last lap went deeper into her sopping core than any previous one, she came. It was not some simple little orgasm like the ones before, even though those had felt large; this was something only dreamt about by both mares and erotic authors alike. A truly monstrous orgasm, where the body went weak, the mind went blank, and the copious juices produced seemed to never end. The blood rushing to her head also gave her a mild buzz, and though she was starting to see tiny spots, she didn't care.

Spike greedily drank in the liquid that was positively pouring out of the princess, watching as it welled up like a freshwater spring and worked against the pull of gravity to spill out of her and drain down her pelt. His arms becoming weak from holding up her weight and keeping himself in place to drink her, he slowly sat down, his tail sneaking between his legs to give his lover a softer pad to lower herself down onto. Finally, he managed to pry himself out of her legs and lay her off to the side, where she convulsed slightly and panted as though she had just run four miles in as many seconds.

"So? Feeling better?" the dragon asked, his long and utterly dexterous tongue flickering over his chin and cheeks to get every last drop of her sweet, earthy juices. He could get used to giving her a treatment like that; she tasted absolutely delicious to him. The pinkish glow from Celestia's eyes was indeed gone, but all she could do was wheeze and smile like an idiot. That, and blink every now and then; maybe he had broken her or something? Spike didn't know anything about oversensitivity when it came to sex, but he could sure tell that whatever he had done to her, she had loved it.

If some pony had told him before all of this that the nectar from a mare's "petals" tasted this good, he'd have likely said they were gross and flat out rejected the idea. Now, though, he saw merit in doing something like this; if she gave as good as she did, then how much better would it be for her for him to repay her, if also in kind? Surely there was a benefit to trying to one-up another in these sexual games other than the sex. Maybe there was some sort of dominance-related hierarchy that could only be bestowed on the one that was better?

"Nah," the dragon thought to himself as he laid by the princess, his princess, curling his arms over her protectively as she faded off into dreamland. Why decide who is dominant or better when it is far more pleasurable to just give one another what you can with no strings attached? This wasn't some competition; it was a partnership between two souls who had never really known much in the ways of physical love. Now that they had each other, there was no telling just how far this could go, or for how long; they were both immensely long-lived species, and should they indeed save the world and go back to Equestria, and tell everypony they planned to tell about what had transpired, just how long would this relationship last? A century? Two or three? A millennia, perhaps, if he did not grow too large for them to enjoy such physical activities? Surely a relationship couldn't be extensively built entirely on mind-blowing sex now, or else every relationship would fail when the partners grew too old for such things.

But all of that was thrust to the side when Spike came to a startling realization: if Celestia did indeed become pregnant, not only would he have a foal to help raise, but he'd be a father. An actual, honest-to-goodness father, and he would live his life caring for and watching their foal grow up. In spite of the small fear that possible fatherhood presented the young dragon, Spike managed to eventually drift off to sleep with a small smile, the warmth and softness of Celestia's wings erasing his concerns. They could worry about all of that some other time; right now, he just wanted to lay there with her and sleep, knowing peace in one another's arms.

Far off in the vast reaches of the cosmos, the sun spun as it always did, but for the first time in a very long time, it was beginning to act... strangely. It seemed far less composed, and far more ready to just... go off, at a moment's notice. It would not be long now, and if the one who was connected to it did not fulfill both her destiny and, unknowingly, that of her lover, then the world would indeed burn in starlight.


	11. Innocence Lost

Chapter Eleven

Innocence Lost

It hadn't even been late afternoon when the pair of them had fallen asleep, and yet for Celestia, waking up that morning seemed harder than any other she had ever endured. It was not because she was hungry, for she had eaten well the day before; it was not because she was thirsty, for drinking from the nearby babbling brook had quenched her parched throat. There was no real wind to speak of, so it was quiet up in the alcove. The sun still shone that morning, bright as ever, yet the light did not penetrate the full depth of their sleeping spot, and as such it did not shine in her eyes.

It was a hard morning to wake up to because, once more, she could hear a voice in her head, softly whispering to her as she stretched her well-rested body on the mat of moss beneath her.

"It seems you miscalculated," her conscience said softly, causing the alicorn to rub her temples in weariness and frustration. "The hour is upon you; soon enough, the world's fate will be sealed by what happens in these next few hours."

"Hours? I thought I had days left, not hours," the alicorn said softly to herself. "Surely my calculations were not off by that much?"

"It is not your original calculations that are off, for they would have been true, save for one troublesome feature; you know as well as I do that stars are finicky beasts," her inner voice said, sounding far more serious than usual. "Creatures of this world, both sapient and not, know nothing of the true nature of space. Stars are not alive in a conscious manner, but they still give birth, live and die like so many other things in creation. Even now, the sun we are attached to is restless, eager to shed a burden it has been carrying for one thousand years."

"The pent-up energy I have kept at bay?" Celestia whispered sadly. Yes, when she had first come to Earth, there had been wilder and more violent weather patterns due to an excess in solar spots and other sun-related phenomena. After assuming direct control of the sun's power on an innate scale, Celestia had done much to stem the violent shifts in its mood, usually by releasing some of the excess energy out towards other parts of the solar system. After the utter fiasco with her first heat, she had severely cut back on the energy she allowed to leave the sun, and so now, after all these centuries, it was finally time for the sun to release all that energy in one great burst.

"Indeed," her inner voice said, sounding faint already, as if fading away into nothing. "It will begin to break free from the hold you have kept it in for so short of its entire lifespan, and the instant you fall into your heat, the bonds will be gone completely. Even worse, because the sun is connected to you, all of its releasing energy will be directed towards you. Only a miracle on your part, perhaps some part of your ascended self or some deep innate magic, can stem the tide that will wash over this planet."

"Don't go, please," Celestia said, with a soft cry, knowing it was useless. She never talked much with her conscience over the course of her life, but she had already talked with it twice on this island. Now it was again reminding her of her failure, but strangely, also of a solution. Maybe it was inadvertent, maybe it was planned; either way, Celestia knew she had an option she hadn't been privy to before.

Ascension.

If she had had enough time, she could have done it long ago, safely and far from the innocents of her kingdom and this world. Thus, by her ascended will alone, the sun's eventual release would have been harmlessly flung off into some other portion of space. This island was secluded enough, but time was not on her side; to do it quickly would require an utterly massive amount of magic, both innate and external, and the only question was: did she have what it takes? No: to concentrate as much as she would need to, she would have had to enter a meditative trance that would have almost resembled death to an outside observer. That alone took weeks, and now, once again, she would be unable to do what needed to be done.

This might have crippled her decision-making process when she first arrived on this island, but as it seemed, like all the other times, Spike offered a solution he did not know of. It could be done, what with her external magic now at full power and his innate as strong as would be needed, but after it was done, he would never be the same. How could he be, having been transformed to save the world?

Surely, it couldn't be too difficult to get Spike to go along with what she was planning, right? They had already come so far, and all that was needed was a little... push in the right direction. Yet the fact that she would be coercing Spike to undergo such a radical change, even for the purpose of saving the world... it slightly unsettled her.

Scratch that; it worried her. She knew in her heart that their relationship was forever changed, and she indeed did love the sweet dragon lying beside her. She didn't want to outright admit it, since it seemed terribly cliché; almost like something out of a cheesy romance novel. A pair of strangers falling madly in love with one another over the course of a few days? Some would call it preposterous, an example of poor writing. Celestia would have agreed with them before, but now... she didn't know. What she felt was real, and she was most certain that Spike felt the same, but... wow, it was just so hard making decisions sometimes when your heart and your head were conflicted.

She could no more lie to Spike than she could dismiss his feelings for her, and after looking down at his serene features, she knew what she had to do. She had to tell him, not this secret, but of another secret, one she and her kind had harbored for a very long time.

"Spike?" she said gently, pressing her palm into his shoulder and giving him a gentle shake, noticing how sweet he looked lying on his side.

"Mmm?" the dragon mumbled in his sleep.

"Spike, could you wake up please?" the princess asked softly, knowing full well the impact of her next decision could permanently alter what Spike thought of not only her, but of alicorns in general.

"Mmm," the dragon mumbled again, slowly opening his eyes and giving a great big yawn. "Yes? What is it, Celestia?"

"Spike, I... I need to tell you something," she said softly, looking away from him and hugging her knees to her chest. "Something you should have known long ago, when you were far younger and more likely to forgive."

"Forgive?" Spike asked, sounding not only still a bit sleepy, but also a tad confused.

"Spike, do you remember when I showed you the history of the Primordials, and then the dragons?" Everything she had shown him that day was the truth, and she was glad for it, but there were some things she had chosen not to reveal. Now was the time; rocking softly back and forth on that bed of moss, next to her lover, Celestia knew it was time.

"Er... yeah, I kinda remember," the dragon said softly. "Hweyha and all that."

"Do you remember what you asked me after we were done?" the alicorn whispered softly, a very light blush forming over her features. She had thought back to each and every session they had ever partaken in since coming to the island, and she cherished each and every one in its own special way.

"Oh, um... before or after we started touching each other?"

"Right before."

"Yeah... I wanted to know about the alicorns, and you said you'd tell me some other time." Spike had no idea why Celestia looked so... what was the word? Depressed? No, more like... weary. This journey, both of the physical and mental state, was taking its toll on the princess; that much was evident. Who would have thought that going to this island in order to save the world could be so exhausting for her, even though they had been gone... what, a week? Not even that long? Time sure sure seemed to behave oddly when you were stuck on an island with only a beautiful alicorn mare for company.

"Did you ever think why I kept you in the dark on such a matter?" Celestia asked, glancing back at Spike. "Did you, perhaps, wonder why I decided to not enlighten you on my own kind's history that afternoon?"

"Um... no, I didn't, really," the dragon replied, propping a leg up and leaning on his knee. "What's this all about?"

"Spike, what I am about to tell you is something few outside of the alicorn race know to be certain, and something that, once upon a time, could have triggered a war across the universe."

Spike gulped at that: wow, that was... well, "big" was a bit of a grand understatement in describing a bombshell like that. "O... kay?"

"Long ago Spike, countless generations before I was born, when the alicorns ascended to their astral forms, the power of the dragons was absolute, stretching to every corner of the universe," Celestia said softly. "We alicorns actually originally came from Earth, you see, but during that time, it was ruled by the most favored creations of the dragons, a race far mightier than any nonsapient group of creatures had ever been before.."

"What?" Spike asked.

"Dinosaurs," the princess said simply. "They were hand-crafted over their many millions of years of evolution to be the successors to the throne of dragons, whom they saw as mirror images of themselves. The throne would have been theirs even without the help of the dragons; eventually, anyway. It was believed that the throne could be passed to whomever ascended as a species, and with the right amount of time, dinosaurs surely would have been the next in line to the universal throne. The dragons who supported such a measure were moderately few in number but very influential; those that did not support such a "stacking the deck" approach to universal succession remained quiet about it."

"I'm guessing the alicorns were not fans of such a plan?" Spike asked, wondering where this was going.

"Exactly," Celestia said. "There were countless other worlds that teemed with life at the time, but none had gone so far as these pet projects of the dragons. We alicorns had somehow ascended in primitive forms, without having initially dominated our own homeworld as the Primordials did with their own so long ago, before the dragons came into being. We were not accepted by the dragons as equals, but as possible yet harmless competitors. To prevent possible wars, we kept our heads down, biding our time and playing off that we were simply blessed with good fortune. We were congratulated on our ascension but given no real thought as to how we might be destined for the universal throne."

"What happened?" Spike asked, feeling a sense of dread radiating off of Celestia in waves.

"The alicorns... they decided it was time for the rule of dragons to be over. After centuries upon centuries of planning, a few years in the life of an alicorn, they plotted it all out. Mammals started evolving larger and faster than the dragons had anticipated, and as such, were becoming more than a mere nuisance to the dinosaurs for which they cared for. Global climate patterns continued to shift in almost random ways, and all over the world, more and more volcanos were erupting. Diseases were springing up in places they had never been before. In so short a time, the Earth was becoming ripe for a change, something the dragons were hoping for. It was not the first time the dinosaurs had faced such adversity, and after an initial die-off, they would have come back, stronger as a whole from such a natural change. The only thing was, the change that came was something they or the dragons never saw coming."

"What was it?"

"High in the Himarelayas, there is a mountain called Mount Evernest, a place long since revered by griffins as a holy site. It is the tallest mountain in the world, stretching nearly six miles into the sky. In the year of the change, the alicorns had found an asteroid heading toward Earth, the same size as that mountain. Originally, by their calculations, it would have missed the planet entirely. With the combined might of every single living alicorn at the time, their magic was not only enough to shove it the merest few miles one way for its path to change enough, but to enshroud it in a barrier that would keep it hidden from the sight of dragons until it was too late."

"Oh my..." Spike muttered.

"The asteroid hit with so great a force, that the dragons who witnessed it could not believe what was happening. By our standards of life, in a mere fortnight, the reign of the dinosaurs was over. They were rendered extinct by all of what the alicorns had been doing to the Earth: climactic change, a surge in mammals, tectonic instability and rampant disease, all of which was combined with a magically-enshrouded asteroid ended the reign of the dragon's successors."

"What happened afterwards?" the dragon asked, feeling something rather... strange in his gut. Outrage? Disbelief? Possibly even... horror? Not at Celestia, or even at the alicorns for doing the deed, but at the fact they had found themselves unable to do anything but such a thing? That they had been backed into a corner by the dragons and had lashed out in the only way they saw possible?

"The dragons retreated in shame from such a disaster, though many suspected that it was not just coincidence we had come onto the scene right before such a calamity. Such troublemakers were silenced by our kind through generous acts of kindness, such as almost single-handedly ensuring the rebuilding of Earth's countless ecosystems and helping relocate the dragons living on Earth who no longer wanted a part of it. However, some dragons remained behind, and those that did were the most notorious for, correctly I might add you, blaming alicorns for the destruction of the dinosaurs. They saw it as a slight to their honor, and you should know plenty about a dragon's code of honor."

"Yes, well, mostly," Spike said softly, his mind still struggling to accept that Celestia's ancestors had once wiped the planet, their own ancestral home, clean of a good portion of life. It would seem that alicorns were not as pure as he had been led to believe, a substantial reversal in his outlook on life, and yet... did it really matter in the end if they were or were not perfect? Celestia had told him herself that she was far from perfect, and that the pedestal ponies placed her on was indeed a hard one to live on.

"As such, the living descendants of almost all of these dragons still harbor deep, often unexplainable grudges against all ponies, especially alicorns. None living today know why they feel that way, but they accept it as part of their instinct and will hold onto such a tradition that only a dragon raised amongst ponies may feel differently. That is why you are so special, Spike; you are descended from those same dragons, yet you harbor none of the disdain or arrogant pride they are so filled with."

Well, that made sense to Spike: the other dragons he had met did seem to dislike ponies, but exactly why had never occurred to him. Here he had always thought other dragons were just full of themselves or something. This explanation also seemed to be the reason why ponies knew so little about dragons: why even try and talk with something that hates you, even if you've never done them wrong? "Then what happened? After the clean-up and such?" he asked.

"Over the many millions of years since then, dragons retreated further and further from ruling the universe as alicorns continued to expand, though with nowhere near the same underhanded tactics we had used originally. Eventually, at exactly five million years before the birth of my father, Lord Polaris, we were officially granted the title as inheritors of the universe's mantle, though by that time we had had an undisputed reign for many more millions of years."

"How do you know the exact date? I mean, even for an alicorn, five million years is quite a long time in the history of your kind," Spike said. He still had no idea just how long alicorns lived, but if he had to guess, it was measured in tens of thousands of years, and even then, five million years... that was still a good many lifetimes.

"I remember it because it was a great day for my family. Our family's most famous progenitor, Lord Nebulae, accepted the mantle from the longest-lived dragon at the time." Celestia knew full well the history of her family and her species; from their humble origins and bloodthirsty rise to power down to how kind and benevolent they had become since then. Her own family could trace itself only as far as Lord Nebulae: after that, the waters of history became a bit muddied, seeing as none of their race truly knew Nebulae's origins. Had he been a minor noble whose line was destined for power solely because of his birth, or had he been a simple low-born whose bravado, skill and intelligence had earned him a title? Nopony knew, and deep in her heart, Celestia wanted to believe it was more of the latter.

"Okay, so I guess that would be a big deal," the dragon said. "How... how is alicorn society?"

"We were a kingdom once, long before our ascension, but after we became the celestial rulers we are now, we formed a council. Nobility, gentry and such titles are still bestowed upon alicorns as they are in any of Earth's cultures, yet the lowliest alicorn is still greater in power than the mightiest unicorn in the world. All alicorns from all walks of life, no matter title or parentage are respected within our society, for we see chances for unity where others see the possibilities of dispute and division. It is strange, I must admit, that after all these years, you are the first one to know so much of our society outside of an actual alicorn. I have not told anypony else as much as I have told you, not even Twilight Sparkle. My mother, Lady Aether, would likely disapprove of telling the ponies of my kingdom of such things. I must abide by her wishes, but I know that she cares enough to tell me such things, and I thank her for that."

"Then why do you sound so sad?" Spike asked, noticing a tear forming in the corner of Celestia's eye. "I'm honored that you would tell me this, even if your parents wouldn't necessarily approve of it."

"You... you are not upset? Not even a little?" she asked with a soft gasp, turning to look at her lover with a mixture of bewilderment and gratitude.

"Why would I be upset?" Spike asked, putting one arm around her shoulders and pulling her in for a gentle hug, making sure to not poke himself in the eye as his chin rested on her head.

"Because... because we alicorns so dishonored dragons in our quest to assume what we thought ours, the mantle of this universe," the princess said softly, swiftly burying her face into the crook of his neck. She would not cry; she would not. "We destroyed what would have been your kind's legacy, and the dinosaurs... we stole their future. We were not even sure we were ready for the title, but our ancestors... they craved it so that they cared not for whom they hurt. I bear the sins of their quest; all of my kind does, deep within our souls."

"Celestia, what does it matter in the end who did what and how I think of them? Why would I blame you for something your kind did millions upon millions of years ago?" Spike asked, gently patting her on the back of the head. Even though the events themselves were almost too terrible to contemplate, Spike felt so far removed from them that it really didn't matter. "Why would I even be mad about such a thing anyway? None of the ponies I know are still mad about the pony wars that happened before the events of Hearth's Warming Eve, when earth and unicorn and pegasus armies did battle over land and prestige."

"I know, but... but... but surely there is some part of you, some small part that is just... just... just the teensiest bit mad at me? From keeping this from you?" Celestia needed this; she needed to just let out the sins of her kind to this one kind soul, if only because she needed clarity on her tortured soul's wishes.

"Celestia, do you still think that just because I'm a dragon, that I'd act like other dragons? Hasn't our time together on this island proven that wrong?" Spike was not upset, but he was a bit disappointed, to tell the truth. He was a dragon, true, but raised by ponies; unless ponies had done something utterly terrible, such as kill his dragon parents, then he would likely never find himself against them. Even the destruction of the dinosaurs, though likely a sore spot in the hearts of many dragons, meant little to him, and to be honest, he wasn't exactly sure he would have supported either decision. Rigging this sort of universal ascendancy "game" seemed to be just... wrong, and even with the purest of intentions, such a line of thought could lead to very dark things. Who was to say who should inherit something that was meant to be a reward for achieving the greatest of successes?

On the other hand, killing off the dinosaurs to establish one's species as the "rightful" heirs to the ascended plane was also a terrible thing, perhaps even more so than rigging such a system. Spike could, perhaps, see why dragons wished for dinosaurs to be their successors; they were so closely associated with one another, given the generally universal appearance, that many scholars used to think the two were closely related. Dinosaurs would have been the first to arise from their home planet since the Primordials themselves, as dragons were the offspring of Hweyha, the hatchling of a star. To just... kill them off, just to take the throne, seemed almost evil, but... ever since then, alicorns had done so much good for the universe, and Earth especially. Perhaps, deep in their hearts, the very first alicorns had been sorry for the destruction they had wrought; perhaps that was why, according to Celestia, they had given so much to help rebuild the planet after all the destruction. In Spike's mind, he had already forgiven them, and from what Celestia had told him, he had no doubt their descendants had more than made up for the mistakes of their past.

He knew it would be important one day to talk to both sides on the issue, if it were possible, but as they sat in silence, Spike knew he needed to tell Celestia the truth. "I love you, Celestia; I truly love you, and I want you to know that no matter what past troubles your kind has had with mine, I will still love you."

Celestia's mind reeled in shock from his words. She had suspected, she had hoped, but... had she truly known he'd tell her such a thing? Had she truly known he would tell her that he loved her? No. She had not known: she had hope, dreamed, wished for it, but she had never been certain he would tell her such a thing. "I... I... I..."

"Yes?" Spike asked, drawing her back a little so he could look in her eyes. He could see something else in her eyes, something he didn't see when he usually looked into them. There was another side of Celestia, one only he had become privileged enough to witness, and right now, it was gazing back at him in full force. There was the princess, and there was the alicorn, and then there was the mare, but to him, there was only Celestia, and he saw her for her true self.

"I... I love you too, Spike," Celestia said, pulling him in for a powerful hug, her lips mashing against his own in time with her breasts pressing against his chest.

Okay, Spike had not expected her to just up and do that, but he wasn't going to complain. He kissed her back, pulling against her as well as her hot breath mingled with his. Their tongues, previously occupied with only forming words, now did battle with one another in such a flurry of moves that the most skilled of poets could only dream of such martial prowess. Flicking over one another, along the outside of each other's teeth, touching tip and sides and underneath and everywhere else; their kiss was something of a marvel in itself. Not only were they kissing, but what little frustration, regrets and apprehensiveness they had left within themselves flowed out of their bodies.

Which, suffice to say, were becoming quite aroused. Spike could feel his princess lover's breasts pressing into his own chest, their puffy nipples rubbing against his scales as they moved against one another. He could feel her heartbeat in time with his own, increasing and strong, yet still measured and in sync with their moving bodies. Celestia, on the other hand, could feel something hard, soft and very warm sliding up alongside her, and for once in a very long while, her heart and her head were in agreement instantly.

She needed him to make love to her as they had never done so before.

"Spike," she said softly after pulling apart from their kiss, surprised she could even speak, given how breathless she was. "I... I think it's time."

"Time? Time for what?" the dragon asked, his features a bit flushed and eyes heavy-lidded.

"Time... time for you to make a real mare out of me," the alicorn princess said, gazing into her lover's eyes. "It' time for you to take away my virginity, and yours, in... in one swift stroke. How... how do you want to do this?"

"How to do it? What do you mean? Isn't it rather simple?" Spike asked, his brain struggling to process the implications and meaning of her words. "It goes... in?" For added affect, he pointed from his cock, to Celestia's pussy; rather close together already, but still, he needed clarification, if only to assure himself.

"Do... you want to be... be on top, or... or should I?" It was one of the hardest questions the princess had ever had to ask. Not because she didn't want this, or that she thought Spike didn't want it: she knew both of them wanted this more than anything. No, it was hard to ask because, for being a virgin, this was practically all she knew about actual, penetrating sex. She had overheard this countless times by her staff when they thought she wasn't listening, and as such, had always been curious as to why some chose top over bottom. Did it really make a difference in the end?

"But... what exactly is top? For you, anyway?" the dragon asked. "I mean, I'd think top for me would be just like when you lay on your back, only, with, you know... meshing on my part." Even after all they had been through so far, both emotionally and physically, Spike still felt a bit uneasy trying to talk sex with the princess.

His princess.

"I think... I think it'd be similar to that, only... with me meshing down on you," the alicorn said softly, rising up onto her knees. All the way up, she felt his straining erection graze past her taut stomach and even, though just barely, brush her lowest of lips before she reached her full kneeling height. She peered down past her breasts at the throbbing thing before her, the sight of it filling her with a burning, itching desire to see it disappear into her body. "Do you... do you think it will hurt? A lot?"

"I... I don't know," Spike said, his eyes locked onto hers as his hands drifted up the sides of her flexed thighs. "Do you... do you want me to massage you first? You know... maybe "loosen" you up a bit?"

Celestia thought about it; undoubtedly, even though neither knew the truth of it, she would feel pain during her first time. However, the fact that Spike was offering to try and ease it ahead of time only made her love him all the more for it. "No, Spike, I... I don't want you to "loosen" me up," she said softly, her hands reaching down and meshing with his own as her nipples hardened on instinct. "I... I want this to be special, okay? Just you, and me, making true love for the first time."

"Oh... okay," the dragon said, his words an octave above a whisper. The certainty in her voice filled him with a confidence he would have normally assumed he'd lack, especially in a situation like this. That, and her bulging breasts in front of his face did wonders to erase any sort of concerns he might have had. "Just... just go when you're ready. I'll be here if you... need anything."

Biting her lower lip, Celestia began to slowly lower herself, the pulsating tip of Spike's cock inching closer and closer to her glistening marehood. Sooner than she'd thought (had he grown longer?), her moist lips were touching the very tip of his mushroom cap. Shivering as a small pulse of feeling, all of it good, swept through her system, Celestia noticed something. Spike's dick was pulsating from the blood flowing through it, and even though he was not yet inside her, she... she could feel his heartbeat send little shockwaves into her system where they had made contact.

Letting her weight drop down a little, Celestia watched as the head pressed itself firmly against her lips, but... it did not go in. She was so tight, so unearthly tight after all these years, she couldn't even get his dick inside her! She wanted it, needed it inside her, and it just wouldn't go in! She was ruining it, she was ruining their first time, oh she was just a horrible lover who couldn't even-

"Just... just push a little harder," Spike said, watching the flurry of emotions running across his lover's face. "I... I heard this part would be hard at first. You just need... a bit of effort, Celestia. I don't want to hurt you, though..." His words trailed off, the unsaid implications left hanging in the air between them.

"Spike, I think you're the last being I know of who would ever want to hurt me," Celestia said, laughing in spite of herself. "Now help me get your dick in my pussy!"

Spike's internal temperature must have jumped a good fifty degrees at hearing Celestia talk dirty, and even though it didn't, he could have sworn he saw his dick swell a good two inches in length and another inch in girth. If she kept talking dirty to him, he might pass out from the amount of blood that would leave his brain. Or his dick might burst a blood vessel: either way, it'd hurt. "Just... just push down a little harder," was all he could say.

Celestia let more of her weight fall on him her wings stiff behind her yet still lying flat against her back. More pressure, more force, inching ever so closer to her goal: her mouth hung agape, her salivary glands in overdrive as her heart began thumping all the way up into her throat. A little more force, just a little bit, come on, it wouldn't take much more...

There. In a sudden squelching noise, the cap of Spike's dick, all the way up to his swollen glans, pierced her virgin cunt and traveled up inside her, stopping almost immediately. Celestia tensed up as a sharp, piercing pain tore through her midsection, like a tree branch being blown apart by a bitterly cold winter morning. Only, this wasn't cold: it was hot, hotter than she'd ever thought possible, and it was searing her insides. She was the princess of the sun, and the heat pooling in her belly, dancing on her nerves and coursing in one, very specific spot of her body was making her rethink everything she thought she knew about temperature.

Spike's reaction seemed to mirror hers, though his thought process was rather different. He too felt the heat, but to him, there wasn't so much pain as there was tightness. His dick, even though just the head had gone in, felt as though it were in a vice: the softest, warmest, most unearthly vice anything had ever been put into. He felt as though his stomach had tried to swallow his lungs, pushing almost every last bit of air out of them; it was as though his entire being was being compressed into a tight tube.

Celestia looked down to see the head of Spike's cock completely within her, and dribbling down the head of his shaft, she saw trickles of blood. Her blood; her virgin blood. The sight willed her to go on, to see this all the way through. Biting her lip even harder and stifling back a combination of a moan and a cry, she let herself sink further onto that piercing shaft, that throbbing piece of meat, that utterly invasive foreign object...

Spike could barely breath as he watched his princess lover sink lower and lower onto him, the slight scent of her taken virginity filling his nostrils and making his head spin. His cock had started producing precum, as it had learned to do in excess on this island, but right now, even as he could somehow feel it gushing from the tip, he could focus only on Celestia. She looked as though she was in pain, and that made him feel pain. He didn't want to hurt her; she was doing this to herself, and there was nothing he could do to stop her.

He wasn't sure if he even could bring himself to try.

Every inch that slid further into Celestia made it harder and harder for her to breath. The pain, the stretching, the heat; it was all conspiring against her, growing and growing as she slid her lover's dick further inside her. Her stomach; she was certain it was bulging before her eyes, her vessel being filled by that monster of a cock. She couldn't do it, she couldn't do this, it was too much, the heat and the pain and the stretching and-

She came to a stop, her body unwilling to lower itself any more. She looked down and, through tears, saw the reason; her thighs were now resting entirely on Spike's own, and his shaft... it was completely gone. She had taken the whole thing inside of her, every last inch of it. Oh, and she could feel it; could she ever feel it just sitting in her, pulsing quickly in time to not only Spike's raised heartbeat, but her own. It felt so large, so dominating, that somehow, even in the midst of all this pain and heat, she could feel it had gone in as far as she could let it go. If there was any more room left for him to go in, somehow deeper than she gauge, she couldn't feel it. Her vessel was clamped down so tightly on this meaty invader that she was in shock that fluid could even escape from their union.

And escape it did; dribbles of blood, her freely given virginity, flowed freely out of her body. Her lowest lips felt as though they would have torn, should Spike's cock have been any thicker; they were indeed very red, very puffy, and seemingly stretched to their absolute limit. The trailing liquid from their union not only dripped down onto her lover's legs, but trailed along the underside of Celestia's own thighs, like rainwater on the bottom of a tree branch.

She felt the throbbing cock inside of her twitch, and that broke her concentration. With a muffled cry, tears flowed freely from her eyes, and the princess buried her face on the crook of her lover's neck, weeping softly. She had done it; she had fit that monster inside her, and now she was no longer a virgin. She was a mare, un-bred but no more a pure, innocent flower; the remains of her precious flower were very clear on the lap of her lover.

Spike held his princess close as she cried, doing his best to console her without being evident of it. He could barely concentrate on that task at all, given just how hard it was for him to even see at this point. His vision was slightly hazy from the feeling of being squeezed by his lover, and as his hands gently rubbed up and down Celestia's back, he began to murmur to his beloved.

"It's all right, my love. Don't cry; please, don't cry. It's okay, you're safe here; safe in my arms."

Celestia didn't know why, but Spike's soft, gentle tones, even in the midst of their love-making, made her feel... comforted. It was reminiscent of a gentle, caring touch, a touch she had not known in far too long a time. Spike was going to be her world now; she was his already, it seemed, and nothing would change that. His friends, his family, her court, indeed all of Equestria would have to get used to the fact that Celestia had a dragon lover: a young, strapping, handsome and utterly adoring dragon lover.

"Spike, I... I love you," she croaked out, wiping away a few tears with one free hand. "I love you so much."

"I know, Celestia: I love you too," Spike said softly as they looked into each other's eyes once again. Their bodies still hummed with the energy between them, and deep in Celestia's belly, she could feel something changing. Her pain... it was still there, but it was diminishing with every second that ticked by. The heat remained, but replacing the pain there was... something else. A sense of accomplishment? A feeling of being... filled? Filled with the chance that she may yet be filled with something else, perhaps very soon?

Her heat had started; she could feel something very small, yet filled with incredible potential, drop from a very special part of her body into another part. She was ready for plucking; her fertility was at its peak, and now that her body has responded in kind, it was finally time. It was time for her to become a mother: all other thoughts fled her mind at this realization. Plans, preparations, the urge to tell Spike about the ascension... it was all just gone. "Spike, please," she gasped softly as she felt him twitch again. "Please... make love to me. Love me like I'm the only mare you'll ever have." She did not know if he would ever bed another, but she knew in her heart that even if he did, they would pale in comparison to her, and that comforted her.

Spike felt his instincts kick in, but even as they urged him to pound away into that tight cunt, he did not let them control him. They wanted to, they so desperately wanted to, but his will had grown on this island into a steel trap that would not bend or break to simple-minded desires. No, instead, he pushed his lover slowly off of him, earning a few sharp cries from her. Then, after only removing an inch or two of himself from within her, he gently pushed her back down, earning another series of gasps from Celestia. So this pattern repeated, punctuated by Celestia's soft squeals and Spike's infrequent grunts. At first, it was tough going, but after a short while, it became easier and easier to slide in and out of the alicorn princess.

Perhaps it was due to all the natural lubricant she was exuding. Droves of it, in fact, ran down his cock, making it far slipperier and therefor easier to use.

"Spike, I... I feel it, inside me," Celestia said, her own hips beginning to instinctively buck downwards whenever Spike pushed her down onto him. Every thrust magnified what she was feeling inside, and deep within her, something was building, an orgasm: her first ever brought on by something so large being inside of her. The texture of his cock, grinding against her insides, churning them up into a soup of precum and royal juices: she felt as though she could no longer breath. "I'm... I'm getting closer." She was burning up inside, lost in the heat of their lovemaking. Her very soul was smoldering inside of her, connected to Spike's own through this personal union, and although this experience would not last forever, to her, she would remember it always.

"I'm... I'm close too, I think," the dragon said, and for once, he was right. He would have most likely blown his load upon entering his lover, but something had happened to him on this island, something he had not foreseen. All of their foreplay had been building up to this moment, and perhaps only know evident to the dragon, all of his sexual tension had been expelled from his body. Year after year of living in a predominately female town, surrounded by predominately female friends, had greatly repressed his sexual growth in many ways, but now that Celestia had relieved him so many times over these past few days, where he once thought he would cum in an instant, he was instead finding it almost a chore to even cum at all. His balls hung against his body, sloshing, filled with the thick seed of his kind, but he could no more will it to come out than he could move the mountain with his mind. They would come when they did, not a moment before, not a moment too late. Still, he could tell it was coming; with the soft, vice-like grip of Celestia's pussy encasing his entire every few seconds, how could anyone hold out?

Celestia's nerves danced inside her as her body started to shiver, softly spasming with every single stroke of Spike's cock into her. Every time he left her, even a little bit empty, it was as though every bit of her life energy was being drawn from her body, and when he pushed back in all the way to the hilt, she felt new power surge within the confines of her vessel. Then, on one down stroke, she felt an extra push from Spike, his hips twitching upwards with a tad extra force. It must have been enough, for in an instant, she saw spots in her vision and felt her wings extend to their fullest.

"Spike, I... ah!" Celestia cried out, and her vessel clamped down with all its might onto the cock within her. In a flash, her body succumbed to a powerful orgasm, and an instant later, she felt a warmth flood her insides. She looked down to see her dragon lover clenching his jaw, his eyes shut as his own orgasm hit him like a ton of bricks. Celestia felt his seed spill into her, the warmth triggering what must have been something akin to orgasm aftershocks. Even though her pussy continuously clenched and unclenched, seemingly trying to milk the dragon for all he was worth, she peered down to see the thick, creamy liquid dribble out of their union and onto both her thighs and his groin.

They had done it: they had finally made sweet, sweet love, and the weary Celestia laid her body across her lover's, content to simply be with him. She did not even bother to remove him from her, and as his arms held her protectively against him, Celestia smiled at Spike.

"That... that was wonderful, love," she said, her voice dreamy and her eyes very doe-like. She even let out a silly little giggle, excited at the deed they had just done. Finally, neither of them could say they were virgins, and for Celestia, it had seemed like a long time coming.

"I... yeah," was all Spike could say, his voice trailing off every other word, it seemed. "That... that was... amazing." Indeed; judging from his body's suddenly spiking temperature, it knew something about him had changed. His balls... they felt funny; almost... empty? Surely they couldn't have been too empty, as his body's response was suddenly kick sperm production into overdrive. He could almost feel that for sure.

The two of them stayed like that, content to just lay there, awake and satisfied in each other's embrace. At least, for a while, until Celestia kissed Spike's chin and whispered, her now-pink eyes looking right into his own as a smile graced her lips.

"When do you think we can go again?"

Meanwhile...

Space is cold, so cold that nearly all life cannot exist within its embrace. Dragons and the ascended race that is the alicorns are exceptions to this rule, but other than them, the vacuum is nothing but a source of death for entirety of life. However, to a sun, the cold of space means nothing. Correction: it means less than nothing to an heir of the Big Bang. Stars were born in such darkness, often in clouds that were the remains of their ancestors. It was a cycle that had been going on since the very beginning of time, since the very first stars filled space and died violent deaths. They were truly massive beasts, far larger than any star left today, and even though their heirs held neither the same power nor size, they still brought light to the darkness, an honor bestowed only on them. As such, though the remains of their ancestors were scattered across space and time, eventually one small bit of an ancient star's corpse formed the very star with nine unique planets in its embrace.

There were those who called its outermost planets not planets at all, somewhere, but to a star, everything that orbited it was its own, and as such was free to call it whatever it wanted. It was not bound by the terms of mortals any more than it was bound to the power of planets that orbited it. Where some saw a gas giant, the sun could see a failed star: where others saw a massive comet, the sun could see a small planet. Semantics mattered little to a massive churning ball of gas, heat and light, and any that truly argued with it were met with only a cold silence.

Within its ring of asteroids, this one special star, there were four special planets, and one in particular was drawing its ire. On this little blue speck lived the one who controlled the sun, called Sol, and Sol, for a brief second in its life but still a second too long, had been held back in unleashing its power across the solar system. It needed release, and the bonds that held it nearly shattered when it had least expected them to. But the sun was a patient thing, and instead of just immediately letting everything fly off, it gathered the energy it was bound to release. It pooled it from all over its surface to one spot, one spot in particular. The power grew and grew, always mighty and yet growing ever the mightier, until at last, the sun no longer wished to keep it contained.

In the soundlessness of space, a great upheaval of the sun sent forth a blazing pillar of energy and light, arcing through space like a massive, sinuous bolt of lightning. Normally, such an event would have been traveling at nearly the speed of light, but for the sun, some of those same bonds existed, and as such, the energy moved far slower than it would have liked. But, yet again, the sun was patient, and even in the life of something as pitifully short-lived as an alicorn, its released energy would find its target.

The only thing left now was to watch and see just what would happen when all of that energy hit the Earth in one particular spot. A tiny island, off in the middle of nowhere: would this beam of energy destroy the Earth, or would a miracle happen, a miracle that the sun secretly hoped would occur? It was not a malevolent entity, and had a kinder side, but after all this time, it did not know what would happen. It had to release the energy, and all of it had to go somewhere.

All it could do now was watch, and wait... and hope. Hope that the one towards which the energy traveled would be able to do something about it, before all was lost, and one little blue planet would survive the chaos.


	12. Apocalyptic Ascension

Chapter Twelve

Apocalyptic Ascension

After their third round of hot, sweaty sex, Spike would have thought Celestia would have been tired; instead, it seemed she was just getting warmed up. Lying on her side and massaging her breasts, the alicorn princess watched as her lover repeatedly pressed himself deep into her folds, only to withdraw half his length and then repeat the motion. In and out, in and out, repeating, repeating, stretching her insides and leaving her feeling so empty when he withdrew...

"Back... sore, balls... draining, energy... dwindling," Spike thought as he panted, putting nearly everything he had into keeping a good rhythm, holding Celestia's one leg up in the air to further spread them apart. She had really loosened up after the second round, and now on round four, sliding in and out of her was no longer painful for either of them. She had been incredibly tight, after all. "Celestia, I'm... I'm almost there."

"Me t-too," the alicorn gasped, reveling in the sensation of her lover sliding in and out of her at such a consistent pace. It was beyond heavenly to the princess, to be so intertwined with Spike in all manner of sexual bliss that she could hardly believe she had once thought her virginity would never be lost. Only... she hadn't lost it; she had given it freely and fully to Spike, and he in return had given his own to her. A mutual exchange of virginity, sealed in love-making and a deep understanding that the two of them would be forever bound to one another.

With a pair of simultaneous grunts, the pair came in unison once more, their respective juices once again spilling out of Celestia's no-longer-as-tight vessel. As Spike collapsed onto his lover, his lungs pulling in as much precious oxygen as they could, he gave Celestia's neck a tender little lick. She always did seem to like the little things during actions such as these, and this made her tremble some more: he could feel it. Flicking her nipples, rubbing her back, grinding his erection against her pussy lips before taking the final plunge... it was the small, simple things like that that made it that much more enjoyable for her, and by extension, him.

"That... that was even better than last time," Celestia gasped, pulling Spike closer to her as his head came to rest on her soft, pillowy breasts. "You've really outdone yourself again, Spike."

"But that's what you said about last time too," the dragon muttered, sounding childishly off-put. "I thought you loved me pounding into you from behind, your ass in the air and your hands gripping the cold stone beneath you as I plowed into your slick core." Wow, he didn't know he had the ability to talk as dirty as that; Twilight would have washed his mouth out with soap for saying something like that, and then make him write an essay why such talk was wrong.

"Oh Spike, you are such a smooth talker; you're making me horny all over again," the alicorn said with a small blush. "Yes, I did love that, especially the feeling of you twisting my nipples as my breasts bounced under me, but this... this was better in an entirely different way. Maybe they were the best at what they were, in their own way?"

"Probably," the dragon replied, his long, dexterous tongue lazily flicking over one of her big, puffy nipples. "Still, I think we should take a break: my whole body is sore, especially one area in particular..."

"Oh, come now Spike, you can't be that tired," the alicorn said teasingly, letting him roll off to her side so she could prop herself up next to him. "Whatever happened to those stories I've heard of dragon stamina? Surely they weren't just delegated to battlefields, and not the bedroom?"

"Okay, first off, I was technically a virgin less than four hours ago, as were you, and neither of us had experienced anything associated with sex before that waterfall," the dragon said with a short laugh. "Secondly, those stories were likely meant for other dragons or for regular ponies. But you? You're an alicorn, and..." His voice trailed off as the alicorn princess beside him began to gently stroke his dick, an absent-minded smile gracing her face. "Oh for crying out loud!"

"Oh, come on Spike, I want you inside me," the princess said with a pouting face, one arm pushing her breasts up and out as if trying to squirt milk from their puffy nipples. "Tell you what, this time I'll just give you a hand job, and you'll nurse, okay?"

"I... I guess that's a fair arrangement," the dragon said, trying not to groan as her hand clamped a bit tighter around his girth. Seriously, she was insatiable: he had never heard of any mare acting this amorous before, almost to the point of it being... lethal. If anything were true, it was this; if it weren't for that dragon stamina of his (which was still going strong, even though his body was feeling spongy and weak), he'd have likely passed out or even outright died from exhaustion. Now he saw one of the more obvious reasons Celestia had chosen him: anypony else, stallion or otherwise, would have died from all this sex. With a smile on their face, of course, but still: no amount of earthly magic, stamina potions or hard-earned strength could have prepared them for all of this.

It wasn't that the act took so much, since it didn't, or that it lasted very long, which it sort of did, but... there was just such a connection between him and Celestia, and they gave each other so much during the act, both pleasure and love, that... it amazed him just how deep all of these feelings were. Here he had thought earlier they'd just have sex: now he was truly understanding what they were doing. They weren't making love, or saving the world, or even fucking.

They were connecting to one another on a whole other level. Their very souls were touching one another in ways that would make the heads of all philosophers and erotica writers spin uncontrollably.

All in all, it was a rush for the both of them, but sadly, it would not remain so...

"Ah!" Celestia said as Spike gently bit down on her nipple, her hand soon covered in warm, creamy goo. Spike's testicles must have been in overdrive to produce as much sperm as possible, as he seemingly had an endless supply. Bringing her cum-coated hand up to her mouth, she gingerly licked it clean. "So, Spike... do you want to know a secret?"

"Um... yes?" the dragon said hesitantly. He didn't feel like the environment was conducive to building a snowman, and he really did want to know what she had to say. He was just worried she'd thought of something weird for them to try next.

"Back in the carriage, during the storm, you grabbed onto my horn, albeit accidentally, and that resulted in the carriage practically blowing apart," she said, making sure every nook and cranny of her hand was cleaned off. To her, it really was delicious; she'd even put it on as a frosting for her very own cake, provided she didn't have to share it with anypony.

"Yeah, about that, I'm sorry for-," Spike began, only for her other hand to gently silence him, his words dying on the tips of her soft fingers.

"Spike, I don't care about what happened to the carriage, and you have no need to apologize," Celestia said softly. "No, what happened in the carriage was entirely an accident, and one of nature's more profound mysteries. Magic is a funny thing, no matter the species, and such can react rather oddly in any given situation. You see, dragons are inherently magical, as in their magic comes from within and rarely expresses itself physically. Sure, there is your ability to breathe fire, grow or shrink in size, incredible lifespans, and of course your... potent stamina and breeding prowess. There are few creatures like dragons, which is why they are so often thought of as supremely magical. Alicorns too have incredible wells of magic, but we have a much more accessible way to release or use it, and as such, we have our horns. This means we can use up magic and have it replenish faster, as our bodies have evolved to 'recharge' our magic quicker after large uses; most likely a survival mechanism. Dragons have not evolved such a mechanism, as they so rarely use up much of their inner magic, regardless of what they do. There are exceptions, of course..."

"Yeah?" the dragon said, not exactly sure where this was going. He wasn't bound for another long-winded but still interesting history lesson, was he? After all, it was nice to take a little break from all the sex, though not that he'd ever admit to wanting to continue. If he did, then they'd likely be on this island long after her heat ended, just plowing away until they fainted from exhaustion.

"You see, every magical creature has an aura surrounding it, created by said magic in its body. This is what allows pegasi to walk on clouds, or earth ponies to be so good at working the earth, and so on and so forth. A dragon's aura is far less "apparent", as it is compressed into their cells far more than other creature's, but this comes at a price: should a dragon grab or even touch the horn or similarly-enchanted portion of a sufficiently-powerful alicorn, unicorn or even another magical creature, then the resultant exchange and build-up of magic can have... explosive tendencies."

"Well... I guess that makes sense," Spike said slowly as Celestia shivered slightly and looked away from him. "But... I've touched both Rarity and Twilight's horns when I was younger: does this mean stuff like that only happens to older dragons?"

The alicorn wasn't looking at him, and instead slightly cocked her head to the side, as if she could hear an odd noise.

"Celestia?"

She didn't answer back, instead choosing to continue to look away from him, her wings started to rise. There was a uneasiness in her posture, something that just didn't seem right...

"Celestia? What's wrong?" Spike asked, sitting up as his princess of a lover quickly stood up, her legs bracing for some reason.

"No," she whispered, taking a step forward. "No, no, no, NO, NO!" With these confusing words she broke out into a flat sprint, kicking up bits of dirt and stone as she ran as fast as she could. With a great jump she soared out into the air, her wings beginning to beat frantically: she fell, disappearing from sight as she fell past the small wall they had climbed up. Spike, jumping to his feet, rushed out towards the gap in time for Celestia to shoot straight up past him, her gust from her frantic yet incredibly powerful wingbeats sending him skidding back a few feet. In an instant, she was gone, far above the steep sides of the mountain from which their alcove lay sheltered within. Spike rushed forward from the small ruts in the dirt his feet had left, only to look up and see her distant form vanish over a ledge. He had never known she could fly that fast...

"Celestia!" Spike called out, instinct kicking in as a bright flash lit up the sky. With horror seeping into his throbbing heart, he began to climb up the sheer rock, renewed energy surging through his muscles. What was happening to Celestia? His Celestia? Why had she so suddenly turned tail and fled? Was it... was it time?

"No, no it can't be!" Spike muttered to himself as he climbed, his claws digging into the hard rock as though it were clay. "It can't be time, it just can't be! I thought we had weeks, not hours!"

A bright flash of light lit up the sky once again, and then the dragon saw it: tendrils of light, twisting and zigzagging through the sky like snakes, lanced around him, smashing into the island like thunderbolts. Off in the distance Spike could hear loud booms, explosions of sunlight as the beams of radiant light struck the ground. Areas of the island immediately began to burn, especially the vast, dead wall of thorns. Like a river of fire it shone in the light from up above, the flames rapidly spreading as the winds urged them along.

Still he climbed, ignoring how the whole island seemed to shake with every passing minute. The volcano wasn't becoming active again, was it? He would survive a tidal wave of erupting magma, but would Celestia? Sure, she was an extremely powerful alicorn, but in her present state of mind, whatever that was... would she be able to? His worry for her drove him on, encouraging him to leap from ledge to ledge like some great scaly monkey. He had to reach her, he had to...

That was when the first pulse hit. The impact rattled Spike's teeth inside his skull, and he lost his grip, just barely hanging on by one hand as the entire mountain seemed to just... tremble. Rocks and boulders rained down around him, shards of them larger than the treehouse in which he had lived most of his life. Dodging out of the way of a large boulder that could have crushed a hydra, the dragon climbed, sending his claws deeper into the solid rock to gain that precious foothold he needed. The mountain seemed to becoming alive, yet at the same time, gave off the appearance it was in its death throes. Cracks formed here and there, spilling out rivulets of water mixed with silt, dirt and long-buried ash. It was as though this great stone colossus, formed from the fiery molten pit of the Earth's mantle bursting through the crust... was bleeding.

Another pulse hit the mountain, this time letting loose a pile of stones that had been damming up one of the larger pools of rainwater near the top. Nay, it was no pool of water, but a small lake, a pond as clear as glass and as untouched as a mountain spring. In a torrent the water poured down on the dragon, the sudden influx making the rock slicker than a freshly-waxed marble floor. Spike coughed and sputtered as water continually sought to enter his nose and throat, his eyes shut to protect them from the small debris carried by the falling liquid. "Gotta... get... to... Celestia," he managed to choke out, punching his claws into the rock with as much force as he could. Every bit of debris stung him like a wasp, his scales preventing damage but not pain of the water-borne projectiles. Climbing almost blinded by the slick water and stinging rocks, the dragon climbed, feeling for every nook, every cranny he could use to his advantage. His tail propped him up whenever it could find a hold, but those were few and far between.

Eventually, Spike found himself at the crest of where the water was coming from, and after clawing his way through the rough current, he pulled himself up onto the rocky bank of a large, rainwater-fed pool. Gasping for breath and opening his eyes after what felt like an hour, the dragon looked up towards the very peak of the mountain. The roar of the water had drowned out the noise during his climb, but now he could hear something else, something far more chilling than silence or loud booms in the distance.

Up high, he could hear a voice, shouting in a language he did not understand. It was a voice he had heard many times before, especially on this island; it was a voice he had come to cherish.

"Celestia, I'm coming!" he shouted, rushing up and digging his claws into the rock once more. He was nearly halfway there, and it would not be long before-

The third pulse struck the mountain, a bright flash of light from the peak coinciding with the sound of rock cracking and splitting like trees in a windstorm. Spike looked on in horror as a crack six feet wide formed along the path he was making, and soon enough, he could hear a great crunching and crashing sound all around him. Boulders continued to fall around him, and cracks circled his every move as he climbed as fast as he could, scampering up and over every ledge as if salvation lay over the next one. Aftershocks from that third pulse kept circling through the island, creating more fissures in the rock, adding more to the cacophony embroiled around him. More trapped water leaked out from every little fissure, the splashing and spraying water creating a fine mist that seemed to enshroud the entire face of the mountain. Soon enough, even the ground far below Spike was no longer visible, swallowed up by the opaque mists surrounding him. Then, as the dragon reached another ledge, a massive fissure formed in from of him, and he felt the entire side of the mountain shift. Suddenly, he watched as the crack grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger...

Rushing towards the opening gap, the dragon threw himself with all of his might, his right hand managing to snag onto a small ledge as he looked below. The entire side of the mountain had given away, and in a great rush of air and swirling vapor, it fell down towards the island below. With a thunderous crash that shook the entire island, the great slab of rock crushed everything beneath it and splintered into massive shards, leaving a broken trail of debris reaching nearly to the beach in the distance. Bits of the island seemed to fly into the air, some of them still ablaze from the ever-present beams of light striking everywhere. Those pieces fell back down, into the cracks in the ground from the mountain's impact.

Spike sighed in relief. "That... that was too close," he muttered, looking up to where he could hear Celestia shouting even louder than before, her words becoming deeper and far more alien to his ears. More pillars of light rained down around him, bathing him in an unearthly glow as he continued to climb. Then out in the far distance, Spike heard one, then two, then three, then... countless enormous explosions. Looking out in horror, he saw massive pillars of light fall from the sky, piercing into the churning waves far off shore. He felt, no, saw the earth shake with each pillar's strike, the lights creating a glow in the ocean depths that seemed to stretch out to the horizon.

Climbing ever faster, Spike was thirty... twenty... ten feet from the peak, the very tippy top having been leveled by this same force. Then, just as he peered over the edge, the fourth pulse struck. A bright, blinding light seared itself into Spike's eyes, blinding him and making him loose his grip in the midst of all the chaos. Screaming in horror and pain, he felt himself fall away from the ledge, falling, falling, falling...

The mists seemed to swallow him up as he fell, his panicked motions making contact with nothing but open air. His tail could not grab onto anything either, for it was not prehensile, and... he was doomed, then. Was this the end? Was he going to die, after all of this, after bonding with Celestia and stepping up in order to save the world. He had failed, he was doomed, doomed to die along with the rest of the planet. No more, there was no more for him...

The faces... he could see their faces in his mind's eye as time seemed to slow. Twilight and the others... Princess Luna... his friends and family... Celestia's sweet face... they all just flashed before him as he fell. Even as he struggled, somehow, in the back of his mind, he knew it was useless. He had no wings, and with no means of stopping his fall, how would he die? Would it be quick, where he would land flat on a boulder and die on impact? Or would he bounce off the ledges all the way down, ending up a crumpled, dying heap at the bottom? Or would he fall onto a sharp rock and break his back, unable to move and dying far too slow? Whatever the end may have been, he knew it was coming, coming for him, and so he let himself hang loose...

...only for a sharp pain in his wrist to bring him out of his thoughts. Rubbing his eyes with his free hand amidst another, seemingly distant tremor, Spike looked up at his hand. The bracelet his friends had given him... it had caught itself on a ledge in his blind, frantic motions during his fall. The colors of the gemstones within, each the same color of his friend's pelts, shone with a comforting light, even in all of this madness.

In a brief moment of both madness and clarity, Spike laughed, a wheezing, utterly bizarre laugh. The thing he had almost forgotten about, the thing his friends had sent with him, had become the means of his salvation, and perhaps that had been its purpose all along? Should he have had doubts, all he would have needed to do was look at the bracelet and remember all those counting on him, on his and Celestia's success in saving the world.

His friends had saved him; now he would return the favor. With grim determination, Spike latched onto the ledge with his other hand and gave his bracelet a small kiss of thanks. Reaching up, he began his climb; luckily for him, he had fallen nearly back to the ledge from whence he had just started, where the face of the mountain had collapsed. Any farther and he would have splattered on that ledge, or bounced off completely. Cautiously this time, the dragon continued his way up, far more careful after that last pulse and flash of light had nearly killed him. His body was beginning to ache, and his fingers were sore from digging into the rock, but still the dragon moved on, and eventually he reached the last ledge once more. To him, after time had seemed to slow during his fall, it had all sped back up to meet him: he felt as though he had just spent an hour of climbing and digging into the shuddering rock, just to make it to this point. Shielding his eyes with one hand, he pulled himself over the ledge and onto the very top of the mountain. Blinking as his eyes adjusted to the sudden tenfold increase in light all around him, Spike started walking towards what appeared to be a massive, spiraling ball of fire.

"Celestia?!" he called out, removing his hand as he braced himself in the event of another pulse. "Celestia, is that you? Where are you?!"

Then the ball of fire turned around, and Spike saw: he saw Celestia, and yet... was this Celestia?

Her pelt shone with a brightness that made starlight seem dull and dim, the whiteness seeming to be a void where all color, even the darkest of blacks, vanished into nothingness. Her eyes were no longer pink, but an extremely bright magenta, like the color of a far distant nebula, their glow seeming to reach out and into his very soul. Celestia's body seemed larger, far stronger than before, even though she stood no taller than when he had last seen her. Her figure exuded a physical strength that seemed to defy its size, so much so that the dragon had no doubt she could crush this mountain with a mere flick of her wrist. The alicorn's wings, large and fluffy before, spread easily thrice their normal span, glowing with the same intensity as her pelt. Her horn corkscrewed as it always did, but with a far more pronounced curl, similar to a bottle opener, only no bottle opener in the world was two feet long, nor did any course with a palette of colors that defied explanation.

But her mane... her tail... gone were the simple yet beautiful colors she had always had. Gone was the softness, the serene movements they made, the hair itself: in its place, was... fire. Fire and sunlight, intertwining as if embroiled in both lovemaking and war, seeking to kill and mate at the same time. Both stretched out in a winding circle up into the sky, like the flames of a great bonfire in the midst of a windy summer's night. Only... no fire moved as if alive, and no fire had the power to send forth embers of seemingly living flame off into the sky, like errant lightning bolts that dissipated before they struck anything.

It was as though he were seeing her for the first time, and in essence, he was: he had never seen her in her true form, as had no other living creature on this planet other than Luna. He was incredibly privileged to witness such power, such might... and such beauty.

"Spike," Celestia said, and it was in that moment that Spike felt a truly paralyzing fear. This was undoubtedly the same alicorn, the Celestia he knew and loved, but, her voice... it exuded a power he had no concept of, of a grandeur and might that he had never, could never, have experienced before. He wanted to take a step back, to climb back down the mountain, to flee for his very life, but his feet... they remained planted. Nay, soon enough, they moved forward of their own free will.

"Celestia?" he gasped as he saw another beam of light arc across the sky, headed straight towards them.

"Spike," Celestia repeated, holding out her arms to her dragon lover as the ground began to crack around her. "Come, be with me, my love."

In a rush, the dragon ran the last few paces between him and his love, and as they embraced one another, a massive beam of light struck the pair, and then the whole mountain cracked in half.

Meanwhile...

From off in the distance, in seemingly another world, Twilight saw something on the horizon through her telescope. Only... it didn't stay on the horizon for long. Soon enough, tendril of light started streaking across the sky, like the trails of drunken comets. Only... the trails did not disappear: instead, they continued to sinuously twist and turn high in the atmosphere as the light circled all over the globe. Twilight could do nothing from her balcony but watch as the entire sky seemed to become embroiled in flame and light, the sky turning into one seething mass of color and light.

"Is this the end?" she whispered to herself as ponies everywhere began to gather to watch the spectacle. Even her friends, who had been preparing for this event, stood dumbfounded outside of their homes, looking up at the sky in awe.

Meanwhile...

Space, the final frontier. Or, at least, it would be for any species that would eventually leave their home planets behind and explore the universe. For one dragon in particular, however, he... he didn't know what to make of it. It just seemed so...

"Empty?" Celestia asked as she lay beside Spike, floating in the great expanse that was the cosmos. Planets, stars, nebulae, galaxies and all other sorts of celestial bodies just seemed to float past them, as if they were moving at a great speed. Her fiery mane and tail trailed along and around them, wrapping itself gently around the pair like a traveler's cloak, only to unfurl and waft as if in a breeze.

"Yeah, it just seems so... cold," the dragon said softly, his hand gently squeezing hers. His back was kind of itchy at that moment, and he didn't know why. "It's as though there's just... nothing else out here. No light, no warmth, no... anything. I don't understand, but maybe I'm not supposed to. By the way... are we dead?"

He would have been rather upset if that were the case.

Celestia laughed, a light, tinkling laugh that made Spike fall in love with her all over again. "No, of course not, silly," she added, flicking the tip of his nose gently, as one might a little puppy. "We have merely become... larger than life, you might say. We have ascended, you and I: I, to my rightful and true form, and you to the form from which is your kind's legacy to their descendants. In time, eventually, you too will grow in a power you do not yet understand, but for the moment, you are... mostly the same."

"Was this all part of the plan?" the dragon asked.

"Originally no, but as with all plans, things change, and they must be adapted to those changes," Celestia said. "All things change, really; seasons, generations, the landscapes, and the cosmos. Ever changing, ever growing, ever dying, ever being reborn in some way, shape or form. It is a cycle, one that we should feel honored to witness, and perhaps even influence."

"I... wow, that's really deep," Spike said. "Where are we, anyways?"

"See down there?" Celestia asked, pointing away from the two of them. "Down there, by that glowing, run-of-the-mill star? What do you see? What does it look like to you?"

Spike looked where she was pointing, and indeed, he saw what could only have been Earth. From up here, it looked so... small, so... helpless. A twinkling little ball of blue in a sea of inky darkness; it was like a jewel, really. The bright beam of energy snaking into it looked almost like... like a...

"Like life being created," he said softly. Indeed, the Earth was a fruitful egg, and that light, no matter how destructive it was on the island... it was made up of what gave that planet life. Light, the source of which drove most of life on Earth: the sun, from which it originated, the creation of which had given birth to the very planet he, and all other livings things on it, called home. It was the final resting place of the dragon's greatest creation, and the same planet through which the alicorns had arisen to universal dominance. It was strangely beautiful, to look so perfect and have such a history associated with it, but... it seemed so alone in the vastness of the cosmos, of which, even from up here, he could only see the smallest fraction. The dragon had never felt as small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things as he did right there.

"Yes Spike," the alicorn princess said softly, pulling him closer to her. "My heat is nearly finished, and with it quenched, all of that energy down there, threatening to destroy our home, will go along with it. So... what do you-,"

Her question was cut off by Spike pulling her in for a kiss, their bodies mashing up against one another in the vacuum of space. But, they didn't care: they had transformed themselves into beings beyond the mere limits of air-breathing creatures. They had ascended, and Spike could not tell just how he had changed. All he knew was that he was in the arms of his lover, and up here, in full view of the universe, he was going to satiate her heat.

By making sweet, sweet love.

"I love you," Spike whispered to Celestia, his body shuddering as he felt his rapidly-growing erection graze her knees, then her thighs, and then pop up right above where it wanted to go. "I love you... so much."

"I know Spike, I know," Celestia replied softly, reaching down and gingerly taking ahold of her lover's massive organ once again, a great throbbing shaft she had come to love nearly as much as the one it was attached to. Placing its tip near her entrance, she pulled herself gently down onto it. "Here... we... go."

In a rush of light, the two of them fell back towards the earth, their bodies intertwined as Spike's shaft pierced Celestia once more. The two of them cried out in ecstasy as they moved, neither caring for what was happening around them. All they could do was focus on one another, moving in sync with the other; pulling, stretching, squeezing, pumping, grinding... loving.

Spike reached up with both hands and roughly squeezed Celestia's breasts, making them bulge and change shape underneath his palms. The princess, his princess, let out a hearty groan, and then, in that instant, something happened Spike had not been expecting: twin streams of fire erupted from Celestia's nipples, the little jets of blazing warmth cascading over their bodies. It turned the dragon on even more, and so he began to push himself into his love harder, squeezing and kneading her more and thus earning even more moans in return. He pushed his lips against her own, their tongues dancing wildly with one another as their bodies continued to churn in passion.

As the pair fell, from the Earth below, their descent appeared to be like that of a falling star. Great and glowing, with colors of bright white, green and gold. Shimmering high in the sky, they continued to descend, the tail of their myriad of colors twirling behind them like a comet's. Below them, that great blue ball of a planet rushed towards them, the oceans spreading out before them until they were met by coastlines, then hills, then mountains that blotted out the horizon. Still they fell, seemingly into the great blue void below, but steadily, a small dot far below grew larger and larger; the island.

From in Equestria, six friends looked up at the star and knew not of what it was, only... that it was beautiful. Many other ponies saw the falling star and felt a strange mixture of emotions, none of which they could explain. Sadness, joy, love, fear, even reverence; these and countless other thoughts raced through their heads as the star seemed to enter the atmosphere. In the distance, it made no sound, save for a soft boom that seemed to just filter through the sky like a whispered lullaby.

In an instant, the bright lights that covered the globe began to recede in a rush, focusing on that one little point off in the horizon. Like water being drained out of a collapsing reservoir, the great beams of light seemed to follow the star, twisting and spiraling through the sky as they did so. In mere minutes the lights had all but receded, now collected into one giant orb on the horizon. Like a second sun coming to visit it continued its descent, all the while glowing brighter and pulsating with far more energy than before.

In the midst of that giant orb, two figures began to glow, unseen by those on the ground. Fire clung and moved all over the two beings as if it were alive, writhing and snaking and twisting all around them. Spike, his shaft buried deep inside of his love, looked her in the eyes as they and the lights trailing after them pierced the cloud layer, blowing it away like a great wind. In a great ring the clouds parted a good distance before evaporating entirely, leaving behind a great big circle in the sky free of any obstructions. The pillars of light that reached down deep into the ocean retreated from their watery strongholds, leaving behind great whirlpools that quickly sucked in all the debris floating offshore.

"We did it," Spike said as he grunted, emptying himself inside Celestia once more. As he did this, his hands left her heaving, squirting breasts and instead pulling her as close to him as possible, the feeling of her overflowing warmth nearly sucking in his balls with his cock, so tight was their embrace.

"Yes Spike, we did," the alicorn said sweetly as she felt the warmth of his seed coat her insides and his cock reach in as far as possible. "Yes, we did."

And then, in a rush of light, fire and wind, the glowing pair struck the mountain.

In a blaze of light the orb surrounding them detonated, sending a veritable shockwave of light across the sky. Like an ever growing ring the wave cascaded through the sky, spreading far, far away from the island. Clouds, no matter their distance from the ground, seemed to vaporize as the light continued on its path; no storm, no monsoon, no hurricane had the strength to resist its awesome might. In a rush it blazed over Equestria, like a tsunami of pure energy. It continued to course through the sky, eventually covering the globe in a great big shimmering sphere, causing a brief shine to filter through cosmos. It was if a new, baby sun had been born, and for a short while, it's glow radiated off the Earth in a soft, gentle light. Then, like a bad dream, it began to fade away, and soon enough, normalcy returned to the world. Where day was, it remained so, and the areas of the planet facing away from the sun soon returned to the darkness of night.

Twilight looked up at the sky and sighed in relief, a sigh that was shared by all of her friends. "They did it," she whispered at first, before her voice rose to a shout that echoed across Ponyville as she jumped all around her balcony. "Spike and Princess Celestia! They did it, they did it, they did it!" Now, none of the other ponies outside of her friends knew what that meant, but they simply assumed Spike and Princess Celestia had completed a task about learning about friendship or whatnot. Still, seeing the purple unicorn jumping around for joy on her balcony did give them a feeling of gladness, though exactly why eluded them.

Off on the island... well, there wasn't much of an island anymore. The great halves of the mountain had been warped by the energy of the blast, not breaking like rock but moving like water. In an instant, the two halves had formed a great pair of arches, connecting at the peaks before fusing into one solid mass. The great rush of wind spread the mist covering the mountain over the entire island, stifling and extinguishing the fires that still burned. Waves thrashed along the shorelines from the shockwaves, causing a great surge of water up onto the beaches, reaching several hundred yards into the interior in places. Boulders, trees and all manner of wet debris lay scattered around the island, except for one very special place. In the center of the mountain's former roots, underneath its new graceful edifice, two figures stirred.

Spike sat up, holding his head as if he had the world's biggest hangover. "Is... is it over? Did we do it?"

"Yes, Spike," Celestia said with a moan, pulling him back down beside her. She could feel the sun's energy dissipating, filtering off into the great void of the cosmos. "We did it. We saved the world."

The two looked at one another and started to giggle, then laugh, then guffaw, pulling one another into a vicious but still friendly hug. They had done it, and like the fading light of their union, all the stress and worries they had heaped upon themselves... it all melted away. They were alive, and so was the world.

"Well now, what do we do now?" Spike asked softly.

"Oh, I think I know of a perfect thing to be doing right now," Celestia said with a coy smile, arching an eyebrow suggestively.

"Oh, I think I know what you mean," Spike said with a smirk as he pulled her closer, their bodies flush against one another's...

They were both asleep within minutes.


	13. Winding it Down

Chapter Thirteen

Winding it Down

"I'm sure this island has seen worse," Spike said as Celestia and he looked out over the devastation both their union and ascension had wrought. Even though the fires had long since stopped, minor tremors shook the entire island a, off in the distance, smoke billowed from the ocean in small, focused areas. In those spots, the beams of light had plunged into the ocean depths, and from the look of things, had created perfect channels through which hot magma from under the Earth's crust could bubble and boil its way to the surface. They were on an active fault line, after all; or at least, they were on one now.

"Yes, perhaps when it was being made," Celestia said softly, holding Spike's arm as she snuggled next to him. "To think, within a few years, there will be several new islands all around this one, and a few years after that... who knows? New coral reefs, thick forests, rolling grasslands, countless new streams from the nearly constant storms that form over this area; it will be a paradise reborn."

"Well, I can say this; this island won't look anything like it did before we arrived," the dragon said with a small chuckle, content with simply stroking Celestia's mane. "We kind of did crack the mountain in half, not including the sizable chunks that fell off before that."

"I am sorry that that happened, but there was no time to explain things," the princess said. "It all transpired so fast, I just couldn't afford to tell you what I was suddenly feeling. I knew I had to try and stop it myself, and knowing full well that would not work, I had faith in you that you would reach me in time. Truly, I am so relieved you did, for not too much longer and things may have become far, far worse than they were. I'm... I'm sorry about your bracelet."

Spike looked down at the thing his friends had given him. It was a mere trinket to some, but to the dragon, it was far more than that; it had saved his life. He could have died from that fall from the mountain's former peak, but this had saved him, and during their final union, Celestia and he had inadvertently done something rather odd to the jewelry. The sheer heat, combined with utterly insane amounts of magic surrounding them, had warped the bejeweled token of friendship into something else entirely. It was less a bracelet of sorts and now almost like a bizarre arm guard, almost like what one wore while rollerblading as a child to protect their hands in case of a fall. All of the stones had elongated and warped, stretching like taffy until they had completely circled the band, forming a kaleidoscopic rainbow of colors that seemed to perfectly blend into itself.

"It's okay, I'm sure they'll understand," he said softly, watching the light dance over the coiling colors. "I kind of like it."

"I do too," the princess said, sighing slightly as the light breeze that passed over the island filtered through her mane. It really was peaceful out here, even after all that had transpired. The fact that it was so, even with all of the debris and the smell of old smoke filtering yet through much of the understory, made her feel happy. Nature could take whatever was in store for it, or at least, it could most of the time. "Out of all of our potential problems now, I believe breaking the news to your friends will be the hardest part of it all, though perhaps my sister's reaction may be a tad more... explosive."

"I'm sure it won't be that bad," the dragon said with a smile. "For your sister, I mean. I think my friends will be able to understand it fine, especially if we explain things to them carefully. Then again, this is Twilight we're talking about, so... yeah."

"Yes," Celestia sighed. "Eventually, all of Equestria will have to know, and Spike... you'll become quite the target of affection."

"I will?" he asked. Oh, right; the whole "bed Celestia and become a Casanova overnight" deal. Wow, he'd forgotten that rather quickly.

"Oh, most definitely," Celestia said. "You yourself explained it perfectly just a few days ago; you'll be the object of affection and, potentially, desire for a sizable portion of the female population. They'll all think; 'just how good this dragon must be in the sack, to satisfy a princess to her heart's content?' and such," she whispered, gently nuzzling her dragon's neck. "Of course, this won't be limited to just ponies; eventually, word will spread and, in time, other races will find out. Minotaurs, griffins, dragons, bison, naga, perhaps even the changelings; everyone may be wanting to find out more about you in a very... intimate way."

Spike's eyes did not go wide, as might have been expected, but his heart rate did pick up, as did his mind's train of thought. There could be lines of females of all races looking for him, many likely star struck and only interested in their claim to minor fame of sleeping with "that dragon hunk". Those he could likely handle, with a little practice of course; turning them away gently, so as not to hurt their feelings. The ones he was most unsure of were those who would seek him out for gains of another sort; power, influence, perhaps even as a tool. They would be persistent, ruthless, and likely unending in their pursuit of him. There was no telling what that Queen Chrysalis would try and do with him if he ever found his way into her clutches...

"Do not worry Spike, you will be safe," Celestia said, interrupting his train of thought. "You need not worry for your future, or at least, not as much as you might think."

"You could read my thoughts?" the dragon asked, surprised yet comforted by her words.

"No, but the look on your face betrayed your mind's current processes," the princess said with a small giggle; he could be so innocent sometimes, even after all they had done. It was endearing, and, to her, rather cute. "The protection of both my sister and me, along with all of your friends and family, should be more than enough to ward off most if not all amorous aggressors. The only thing is, this may not be necessary on our parts, especially if you learn to control yourself to a degree fitting a newfound position like yours. Learning to control your body is one thing; learning to control your mind and the actions you take is another. Perhaps that is why I believe eventually you will not need my protection from infatuated females. In time, you will be able to take care of yourself. Besides, I do not expect for you to remain by my side for all time, forever and ever, as our lives will always be different, no matter how intertwined we are now. I will not care with whom you establish relationships with, so long as at the end of the day, you still love me."

"I... of course I will love you," Spike said, holding her close. "I will always love you, but... why would you tell me to just be... free like that?" Spike wasn't exactly against the idea of an "open" relationship, but after what they had been through, not pledging himself forever and ever to Celestia just felt... wrong to him. Like there was something intrinsically wrong with staying a bachelor for his life, especially with how close he was with Celestia now. It would be like denying part of his life; trying to tuck it away, like it had never happened, but... how could he ever forget that? How could he ever forget, never mind replace, all that had happened between them?

It would be a lie; he would be living a lie that he could not, would not just be "okay" with. It would destroy him.

"I am understanding; you are still young Spike, and have yet to reach an age where experience has begotten as much wisdom as it has for me," she replied, gently running a finger down his chest. "Hmm, yes, you are young... and virile..."

"But... what if I don't want any relationships outside of our own?" he asked with a slight blush. Surely her "time" was truly over... right?

"Spike, to hoard what you can give would be very selfish of me, and you know how I abhor selfishness," Celestia said. "You have so much to give, be it love, friendship or something more precious than all the jewels in the world; time. You will live a very long life, even longer now that you've experienced just a taste of the power you could one day be capable of wielding. Friends, lovers, family... so many of them could pass you by, and to shut them out and spend all your days with only myself by your side... it would be a life filled with regrets. I do not wish for you to feel as many regrets as I do, Spike; I want you to live a full life, a very long and prosperous and fulfilling life. If that should mean I would have to... share you with others, then I am content with that. There's only so much dragon an alicorn can handle," she added, giggling as she gently stroked his lower back.

"But, what about your parents? Won't they be a bit upset of your decision to, well... not have me marry you or something?" Spike asked.

"They will have to respect my decision, but it will not be as big of a problem as you may think," the princess said. "Alicorns do not expect dragons to follow our way of life, our culture, even if we are in a relationship. They respect the wishes of others as much as they do those of our own kind, and although it may mean nothing to any other beings in this world, a marriage to me would, in fact, likely be far less troublesome than forever stating your bachelorhood."

"What?" Confusion started soaking into Spike's brain as the princess continued talking.

"Spike, if you were to marry me, that would simply mean you are off-limits to alicorns that are completely unrelated to myself," Celestia said simply. "It is a cultural thing, so as to prevent divisive relationships between potentially large rival families and to prevent spouse theft. 'Keeping it in the family' is a saying of ours, but thanks to alicorn genetics and our inherently powerful magic, we are able to keep things running smoothly in our family tree; still, no marriages to direct blood relatives and such. My own parents share great-great-grandparents, but they are likely one of the more closely related examples in our family. Besides, you are a dragon, and as such are not related to any of my family; any of my female relatives, no matter how obscure or close, could potentially seek you out in time."

"Um... uh... just... just how big is your whole family?" Spike asked, his eye twitching as his mind struggled to process this suddenly new and potentially terrifying information. A whole family of alicorns, just like Celestia, possibly seeking him out as a mate? He'd be a goner for sure.

"Hmm... actually, I am not sure just how large my family is," the princess said. "Reunions are few and far between, though from what I can remember from many years before Luna and I arrived on Earth, my family had, say, over nine thousand living relatives? Possibly more, but we are scattered all over the universe, as is custom for our species, and everypony is very hard to keep track of over the millennia; it is a very big universe out there, after all."

By the time she had reached the word "universe", Spike had nearly fainted away. Nine thousand relatives, with a good portion of those possibly being like Celestia; oh, he would be a goner indeed. "So... how many of them are royalty? On the planet they inhabit, anyway?"

"In my family, many; in the species as a whole, a countless multitude," she replied. "Alicorns rule through more of a system of government than most dragons did, which was often by total dominance over whatever it was they controlled. Most alicorns in general rule in some shape or form, be it a country, a world or a solar system, though there are many that serve as nigh-immortal advisors for races on other planets. Titles like "prince" and "princess" are rather bland to us, seeing as it is not titles that honor their bearers, but the bearers that honor their titles. Why else do you think I prefer for you to not refer to me as princess?"

Spike didn't really know what to say to that, so he simply hugged Celestia close to him and sat in silence. He didn't know why, but just sitting with his princess felt so right, even more so now that the world had been saved and they were technically something of a couple. Even if she was fine with him pursuing others or being pursued by them, he wasn't sure if he could so quickly accept her decision. Sure, he had given it a bit of thought before they had so deeply connected with one another, but now... it felt different. Spike wasn't one to just brush off such a relationship in favor of a predominantly bachelor lifestyle. He had technically been a bachelor for a while now, yet... it seemed just so empty to him. If he were going to pursue others, it would have to be on his terms, or else he'd just feel used.

"Celestia?" he asked softly after a while.

"Yes?" she replied, enjoying the feeling of his slowly beating heart under his scaly chest.

"We'll tell them together, right? I'd hate to have you face your sister alone in this."

"She likely won't mind as much, though I thank you for your concern. However, I will most definitely be by your side when your friends learn of the truth."

"When do you think we should be heading back?" It had been on his mind, and while it would have been lovely for them to remain on this island for quite a while longer, Spike really did miss home. It was so hard to believe he'd only been gone for about a week, when originally the plan had accounted for the possibility of several weeks, if not nearly a month. So much had happened, so fast, that he could still barely comprehend it all.

"While I do not wish to leave this island so readily, I do believe we should strike out soon," Celestia said. "It will not take us long to fly home."

"Fly? How are we going to fly?" the dragon asked.

Celestia merely gave him a playful look. "Come now Spike, don't deny it; you've changed more than you're willing to admit. Now, before we do fly back home, we'll be needing some clothes, and now that my magic has been fully restored, it should not be hard for me to whip us up something to wear. Do you think you could find some palm fronds, and perhaps some small vines? I don't think our food bag survived in all the carnage, so we can't just reuse that fabric."

"Yeah, seeing as the alcove didn't survive, I doubt the bag did," the dragon said with a smile as he walked off to fetch the supplies.

"Lo, and to the east, I saw a great pair of figures, as mighty as the sun and earth united as one. Their radiance surpassed the stars in the sky and the might of the ocean depths. The very earth trembled at their power, and lo, in the distance, I could hear the cries of joy at their descent."

"Um, Miss Derpy, what are thoust talking about?"

"So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off."

Luna blinked; tea time with the Royal Mailmare was often punctuated by rather odd occurrences. There was that one time Derpy had brought with her a large sack of stamps, and then stuck them to bags of marshmallows for "storage purposes". This tea time, however, seemed to be rapidly approaching unknown territory on the odd scale.

"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward."

"Miss Derpy, why are your eyes spinning like that?" Luna asked. It wasn't unusual for the mare to be looking in two different directions at the same time, but her eyes weren't usually so coordinated in their socket rotations.

"I must go; my planet needs me," the pegasus said with a smile, and like a bolt of lightning she zoomed off backwards, flying out of an open window with her big blueberry muffin still clenched tightly in her hands.

"What is in this tea?" the princess of the night thought to herself, peering into her cup before setting down away from her. "We must have Twilight test this for hallucinogenic properties."

Off in the distance, a great crash could be heard, followed by a loud "I just don't know what went wrong!" trailing off into the distance.

Luna merely sighed at the noise. "Miss Derpy is a rather odd mare, is she not, Mr. Fluffykins?" she asked, turning to the small bear next to her. Resembling a large stuffed animal, the bear nodded and took a sip of his own tea.

"Yes, though I would prefer if you called me Roger: Mr. Fluffykins is my father," he said. "This Derpy mare… is she a Seer, by chance?"

Luna simply shrugged as she swallowed a small bite of a muffin. "It is possible, though there has not been a Seer in Equestria for quite some time. They-,"

There was a flash of light high in the sky, and peering through a window, Princess Luna saw two figures descend down onto one of the castle balconies. She knew the one with the large, feathery wings in an instant, and the scales of the other figure was an indicator of their identity as well. However, there was no happy greeting, as one might have expected; only the sound of a very upset princess of the night berating her sister for her poor decision making. Not that she was one talk, but then again, Luna's mistake had almost plunged the world into an eternal night, not obliterated all life forms on Earth or potentially the Earth itself.

Thirty minutes; thirty minutes of screaming and shouting at him. Spike didn't know how much more he could take.

"Luna, dear, I think you've said enough-,"

"Oh, now you wish to come to his defense?" the princess of the night shouted. "We know that you of all ponies should understand how the public thinks of us, but did it ever cross your mind how this could alter their perception of him? Surely you did not think that most would just roll over and accept the fact that one of the princesses has lain with a dragon-,"

"Well, it wasn't just once," Celestia interjected. She knew Luna had every right to be upset with how badly Celestia had messed things up not even a week ago. Even if she had been able to escape the planet and soothe the sun's power, it still could have meant the end of the Earth. The dishonor on their family would have been immense, should the worst have come to pass. Earth was the original home of the alicorns, the one place in the entire universe every alicorn knew of by heart and revered above all other planets.

"This we did not need to know, sister!" Luna screeched, her crown nearly flying off her head. "When the public finds out about this, do you know what the minor nobles will say? What will other countries think of us, of our kingdom? What if… what if you are pregnant?"

"If I am indeed pregnant, then Spike and I will weather it together," Celestia said, pulling Spike close to her. "Won't we, Spike?"

"Yeah, of course," the dragon said, trying not to look Luna in the eyes as, behind them, a small bear left the room quietly. For being rather shorter than Spike was, Luna could be so intimidating sometimes…

"Whether the two of you will weather it together is of no concern; my concern is for the safety and integrity of the kingdom," Luna said, rubbing her temples as she readjusted her crown in as dignified a manner as she could. "By the stars, how will this be explained to nobles? Only their ambitions to one day assume the throne or have a descendant do so has kept so many of them in check, but now that, in time, there is the possibility of a blood heir, an heir of untold power, many will be suitably upset over such a development. Most will not say anything, but they will plan, they will scheme; they always do. Why, even our nephew Blueblood might be on the lookout for an opportunity to-,"

"Neither he nor anypony else will do such a thing," Celestia said coldly, her voice dropping an octave as her words intensified. There was only so much she could take before she would respond in kind, and Luna was beginning to tread a very precarious line indeed. "Need I remind you, sister, that during your absence, an absence I was forced by you to carry out, I was able to hold this kingdom together, by myself, for a thousand years? I have had more than a fair share of nobles wishing to claim the throne, often by force, and every single time, they were beaten back. I have witnessed invasions from both kingdom and nature, attempted coups of all sorts, and every manner of unrest, and Equestria has emerged stronger from each encounter, under my guidance. I think I can handle such events as they come."

"Oh, that is low and you know it!" Luna said, her volume lowering but her anger evidently remaining. She had realized her mistake in where the conversation had been going, but refused to let it go, even though she knew she had said something wrong. "You are so stubborn, sister, we swear, it will-,"

"Tell you what; when your time of estrus comes upon you, I will personally guarantee Spike will assist you with it," Celestia said, and in that moment, several strange things happened. Spike blinked in confusion several times at the mention of both his name and "estrus", a passing cloud cast the entire castle into shadow, and Luna made a strange gurgling noise, as if she were trying to say something but was too shocked to form the words. After a few more moments of near-silence, a wordless exclamation sounded forth instead, and the princess of the night turned and stomped off in a huff, leaving the two of them alone. The slamming of the door muffled the sounds of her hoof steps off in the distance until they could no longer be heard.

Spike looked at Celestia. "Really? You want me to help… that?" he asked, gesturing in the direction Luna had disappeared.

"Yes; she just needs some time to calm down," Celestia said with a sigh, knowing for sure her sister's temper was still one of her more personal faults. Everypony had faults; anger was just one of her sister's more prominent ones. After all, why wouldn't she be angry at her sister? Celestia's mistiming of her estrus cycle nearly cost them everything; nearly cost the world everything. "She's really quite sweet when you get to know her."

"Right…" Spike muttered. He wasn't so sure about that.

"Still, she did take it better than I had feared, only... now we have to tell your friends," the alicorn said softly.

"I think most of them will take it well enough," the dragon said. That was her taking it well? He would have hated to see how Luna might have taken it badly. Maybe go full-on Nightmare Moon again or something.

"Twilight?" Celestia asked knowingly.

"Yes, Twilight."

"How are we going to tell them?" Celestia didn't want a direct repeat of her sister's reaction, though she felt as though she would be able to handle her student and Spike's friends with far more grace and dignity. At least, the shouting might not be so bad, if they remained relatively calm.

"We'll give it to them straight; no beating around the bush," Spike muttered. Keeping secrets always was so bothersome to him; keeping this a secret would just destroy him. Better he tell his friends now than later, while it was still fresh in his mind and they'd have a longer time to deal with the implications of it all. "When do you want to go tell them?"

"In a few hours; right now, we need to go find some more... respectable clothes," the princess said. "I'm sure we have some spare clothes from one of the guards that could fit you."

"What's wrong with these?" he asked, gesturing down at himself. "I like them the way they are."

"Well, I made them, and... they're not exactly the best when it comes to being actual clothes," Celestia said with a bit of a blush.

"Celestia, you made them, and that makes them all the more special," he said softly. "Just let me wear them when we go to tell Twilight and the others, okay?"

The princess was silent for a few moments. "Okay Spike," she said, glancing down at herself. "You can wear those if you wish. I should really change into something else though, I-,"

"Oh no you don't," the dragon said with a suddenly playful growl as he held her close. "You spent all morning using your magic to turn those bits of island debris into these amazing clothes. Don't go selling your craftsmanship short; you're going to wear this too."

"Why?"

"Because I can't wait to see the look on Twilight's face." He gave her a small kiss on her lips; just enough to make sure the discussion was over. After they broke apart, the princess smiled; a giddy and dreamy kind of smile.

"Well, in that case, I'll send them letter right away," Celestia said, magically retrieving a small bottle of ink, a quill and several pieces of parchment.

"Wait, a letter? Why not just go to the library in Ponyville?"

"Well, Spike, I doubt they are all just sitting in the library, doing nothing and instead waiting for us to come to them, and besides, I need to show you around until they get here," Celestia said, wriggling her eyebrows in a somewhat suggestive manner. "You are going to be living with me, right?"

"Um, well, sure, I guess, but all my stuff is back in Ponyville," the dragon said, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched her magically scribble on the parchment. Everything he had packed with him in the carriage was destroyed, save for his warped bracelet.

"Do not worry; I shall send several of the newest guards to retrieve your belongings," she said. "It is part of their training; to do what I ask, no matter how minor or great. It helps them cope with the stress of the job, by learning not to sweat the small things. Now, about your titles..."

"Titles?" Spike asked, his confusion growing. "What titles?"

"Twilight, why do ya think we were summoned?" Applejack asked, looking around the deserted hall with the rest of her friends.

"I don't know, but maybe we're being given details on Celestia and Spike's mission," Twilight replied. "If there's another danger out there that could turn up, I'm sure she'd want us to know about it as well. It could be any number of things."

"Well, I'm sure they wouldn't be keeping us waiting if it weren't for something important," Rarity said.

"Rarity, we've only all been in here about five minutes," Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes. "Maybe they're taking a note from your playbook and are simply being "fashionably late" or something."

"I'm not sure; it's not Princess Celestia to just keep us waiting," Fluttershy said softly. "Whenever we've been s-summoned before, she's always been there, w-waiting for us."

The others nodded in agreement. Fluttershy's words were true, and seeing as Celestia wasn't there waiting for them, they did feel a tad... well, the word "uneasy" wasn't quite correct. More along the lines of curious; they felt curious.

"Really? Now?" a voice whispered, out of sight but not quite out of hearing range. Six pairs of heads turned towards the spot and didn't see anything but an empty doorway.

"Yes, now," another voice said, a bit louder than the first. "Come now, it's not so bad."

"We had to rip a pair of holes in it to make room for them, and I'm pretty sure you said this was ancient. It almost feels like it belongs in, and is on loan from, a museum."

"Come now, it's easily fixable if it doesn't quite suit you, and besides, there are many more just like this one. Now go on, get out there."

With a sigh, the first voice's owner came out from behind a corner leading to another room, where they had obviously been hiding. Six mares gasped as the figure stepped out into the light.

"Hey guys," Spike said in an embarrassed manner as his new clothes shimmered in the light. Well, clothes might have been a bit of a strange term to use, as he was wearing what looked to be pants made of living leaves. They jostled with every step, yet were totally silent and seemed covered in dew, for they were rather shiny, as if polished like glass. He wore no shoes, but then again, he didn't need to, what with being a dragon and all. Covering his chest was what looked like a very old, very expensive set of blue-tinged armor, the steel shining in the light. It was several pieces layered over one another, with a chest plate, pauldrons and the like. Its patterns were almost like the ones his scales made, except each individual piece was obviously much larger than any of his own.

However, the most startling thing about Spike was not what he was wearing, but the thing sticking out of his back; two things, in fact, right near his shoulder blades. A pair of leathery wings, each slightly folded behind him, jutted upwards, reaching around the same height as the tallest of his spines on his head. Each of the wings was no doubt half again the length of one of his arms when fully spread, and though the membranes were thin, they were supported by what looked like ribbons of steel running underneath the skin, where bones would be in a non-dragon creature.

"Spike?" Twilight exclaimed as the six of them rushed him after a moment's pause. They stopped for the briefest of seconds next to him, as if unsure of what to do, but then their joy overrode their sudden timidity and they swamped him with a great big group hug, laughing as they did so.

"You did it! You saved us all!" they cried out, eventually letting him go to get a good look at him.

"How in the world didja get them wings?" Applejack asked, removing her hat and scratching her head.

"It's a long story," Spike said with a smile. "They are nice, aren't they?" Flying back hadn't been the easiest thing he had ever done, but hey, after saving the world, learning to fly hadn't been too troublesome. He just needed to learn how to control his speed was all... and the turning. He was terrible at making tight turns.

"I'll say; I bet you could break some speed records with puppies like that!" Rainbow Dash said, poking the large leathery protrusions with a mixture of awe and smugness. "Nothing like me, of course, but hey, they are pretty cool."

"Rainbow, you needn't feel threatened by Spike's new look," a voice said, and seven heads turned to see Celestia walking towards them. She wore a dress that was nearly identical to Spike's pants in appearance and design, only her dress had a string of scarlet ribbons flowing through it, giving a wonderful contrast of red against green. "I'll be expecting you to help him to master his flying skills."

"Your highness," the six mares around Spike said, bowing slightly. Rarity was simply awestruck by the princess's clothes, and in the back of her mind, she made a note to design an entire lineup for next spring based off of those patterns.

"We saw what happened in the sky, and since we're all not dead, we know you guys did it!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Yes, quite," Celestia said, glancing at Spike, who winked at her knowingly. "Yes, we most certainly did... do it."

"But, but how? Where?" Rarity asked.

"Well, you guys, it was on an island," Spike said. "An island way out in the middle of the ocean, and it doesn't exist on any map, and nopony in the world other than Celestia, Luna, and now myself, know about it. It's tropical, uninhabited save for some animals, and it's a very beautiful place, though it's not entirely safe."

"So, like the island from Lost?" Pinkie Pie asked, earning several odd stares from her friends; even Celestia and Spike looked at her like she had just said something extra unusual. "What?"

"Anyway..." Spike continued before Pinkie made things even weirder than they'd soon become. "We went out to the island on Celestia's carriage, which took quite a while, but... we were caught in a thunderstorm; a huge one."

"What?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes going wide in fright. Thunderstorms were always scary to her, more so because more often than not, some of her animal friends lost their homes during such an event, or her own home was damaged by errant falling tree branches.

"Yes, it true; the carriage was eventually destroyed and we were flung from its carcass whilst above the island," Celestia said. "I managed to mostly arrest our falls with my wings, but when we landed in a river, I was disoriented, helpless, as I sank to the bottom. The island's magic had interfered with my magic as well, so it was only with great skill that Spike was able to find me and bring out of the water before..."

"Before something happened," Spike finished for her as she walked over to him. "We had to make our way to the base of the dormant volcano that formed the island's peak, but to do that, we had to go through thick jungles-,"

"Climb over a thorn wall-," Celestia interjected.

"Cross a raging river-," Spike continued.

"-and finally make our way through a great boggy field of mud," the princess finished. "Needless to say, I am thankful Spike was there, though he did suffer a slight injury during the river crossing."

"What? Spike got hurt?" Applejack asked, looking from Spike to Celestia. "He looks fine ta me."

"His injury has by now healed fully, thanks to his dragon heritage," the alicorn said softly, mentally taking note that, indeed, Spike did look fine; very fine indeed. "Without him, I would have never been able to cross the thorn wall and make my way through the island's interior." She didn't want to add about how Spike's selflessness had given her courage. There would be time for talk like that later.

"And I wouldn't have made it across the river if it weren't for her," Spike said. "She saved my life; helped pull me out of that cold water before I was washed downstream and crushed between boulders. If it wasn't for her finding us things to eat during my "recovery", we might have starved as well."

The six mares remained silent, listening intently to the story, though they were all wondering why it seemed to be missing... detail. Surely there had been more to it than that? Seemed rather linear and a bit plain, to be honest.

"When we finally made it to the mountain, it was not long before the... event happened," Celestia said softly, wrapping her arms around Spike in a small hug. This caused Twilight and the others to give one another looks of confusion. "I take it you were able to deduce the "event" was to happen sooner than I had told you, Twilight?"

"Well, yeah," she replied, her eyes bouncing back and forth between her mentor and her assistant. "Only, I'm not sure if I get what's going on h-,"

Celestia leaned in and suddenly gave Spike a kiss, their tongues clearly caressing the other's as they pulled each other's body close.

Fluttershy nearly fainted away, her wings covering her face along with her hands.

Applejack blinked in confusion as she removed her hat and scratched her head.

Rarity gasped, as if it were the most scandalous thing she had ever witnessed, even more so than that time she had seen the mayor of Ponyville lip-locking her political opponent behind a bar.

Rainbow Dash cracked a grin so wide her face might have split in half, if that were possible.

Pinkie Pie remained silent, though her whole body started shaking as if it were going to explode.

Twilight blinked once, twice, then three times, and finally gasped. "What?" she asked as the pair of them broke apart. "What... what?"

"Spike here helped me to save the world, though the method we used may come as a... shock to you," the princess said with an unabashed smile. "You see, Twilight, the sun and I are connected, and through that, it is influenced by both my mind and my body. It was "that time" in an alicorn's life that, well... I'm sure you can connect the dots to what "time" it was. The truth is, I brought Spike along because he was the only one who could both survive and satiate me during that time, though that last part I did not expect at first. I am so very glad it turned out to be true, though."

"What?" the purple unicorn asked simply, surprise punctuating every breath, blink and word she spoke.

"Spike and I became close on the island, in the quest to save the world," the princess continued. "Very, very close. So close, you might say that we're forever bonded to one another, though it is a bond I am far too open to letting Spike stretch."

"What?"

"Umm, Princess Celestia, I think you broke Twilight," Fluttershy whispered, as all the purple librarian could do was stare, slack-jawed, repeatedly uttering the word "what" every few seconds. The pegasus even gave the unicorn a little poke, which did... absolutely nothing.

"She'll be fine... I think," Spike said, glad Twilight hadn't exploded or rounded on him, demanding an explanation like she always did. "Don't forget, she reacted the same way when I solved the "what is the sound of one hand clapping" riddle she was so fond of."

"But... you, and... and Celestia?" Pinkie Pie asked, pointing from Spike to Celestia and back. "You're... you're an item now? An actual couple?" Her shaking was intensifying to a point where she might cause the palace, or at least that room, to start shaking as well. She clearly wanted to just bounce around in joy, but was obviously containing her excitement; must have been a gargantuan task for her, to be sure.

"Oh, I would like to think so, but alas, it could not be under normal circumstances," the princess said. "If Spike were a pony whom I had been seeing for some time, then things would progress very naturally and smoothly. Seeing as all of this is still rather sudden, steps will need to be taken to ensure everything goes smoothly. You see, Spike here, now that he was, I mean is my paramour, it means he will be having to live with me, as is custom amongst ponies. He has also been given a title or two; tell them, Spike."

The dragon nodded, glad things were going better than he had feared they might. "I am technically now both the Royal Aegis and the High Prefect of Canterlot. This means I'm more or less the personal guardian and sorta-consort of Princess Celestia, as well as the highest position of authority in the administrative portion of the city, second only to the princesses. These titles haven't been around in centuries, so... yeah; I've got these big responsibilities now, and that means... yeah." He hadn't really thought this part through all that much. He already knew all about all of the inner machinations of the palace, from all of his previous visits, but the fact that he would be working both behind the scenes and for the world to see...

It was somewhat daunting to him.

"That means you can't stay in Ponyville anymore," Fluttershy said softly; it wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Spike said; wow, this was harder to say in front of them than he had originally thought. "I mean, I wasn't going to be staying there forever, you realize; someday I was going to have to move out, find my way in the world, you know? Only... I hadn't expected it to be like this, to be honest. It stills feels all so sudden."

"So... you're in a position of power now?" Rarity asked, a strange look coming over her. It wasn't surprise, nor ambition, or even jealousy, but... genuine happiness. "Oh, Spike, I'm so proud of you! You made your way up in the world, and all you had to do was-,"

"-bang a princess?" Rainbow managed to croak out before she started laughing her ass off, rolling on the floor in a much undignified manner. Not like she would care, anyway; who cares when you're as awesome as she is?

"Indeed," Celestia said with a small blush. "Now, I know you are still his friends, and from all that Spike and I have talked about, he loves you all dearly, but it is within both his and my own best interests that he stays here, in Canterlot, with me. I have also asked him to be a diplomat of sorts, by my side during negotiations with anypony or anyone he feels comfortable with. Personally, I think he will do great."

The silence wasn't absolute, nor did it last very long, though Spike's blush at her sudden praise didn't disappear quite as quickly. "Well, shucks, ah guess that makes sense," Applejack said slowly. "Ah mean y'all did just give him a bunch of fancy titles that're really important, so ah guess it would be best fer him ta stay here. Only... how'll Twilight take this? Ah reckon she won't be too pleased ta realize her assistant is movin' in with ya, especially since you two are, ya know... together. She might do somethin' drastic, or at least, need ta take some time ta get used ta the idea."

"She'll have to accept it, because since I'm technically old enough to be out on my own, she doesn't have to make any more decisions for me," Spike said. "I know it might be hard on her at first, but it's for the best. She hasn't needed me for anything in a long time other than to write the occasional letter or to send one, and I'm sure she'll figure out a way to send them by magic soon enough."

"Um, guys, she's standing right here," Pinkie Pie whispered, "discreetly" pointing at the still shocked mare, as if their conversation was one big secret and Twilight had just walked in on them in the middle of it.

"I'm not sure if she is," Celestia said slowly. "Give her time to think it over; right now, Spike needs to go help the royal guards prepare his room. I, on the other hand, have an assignment for you six. If Twilight doesn't remember, or for some reason doesn't feel like she is able to perform it well enough, please fill her in and assist her, okay?"

"Okee dokee lokee!" Pinkie Pie replied, her bounciness returning tenfold; cartwheels, backflips and an errant party cannon blast sounded forth in the space of a few seconds. It was Pinkie Pie; trying to guess what would happen around her was an exercise in futility. "You can count on us, your majesty! We'll do it; anything for you!"

"Thank you, Pinkie Pie. I need you six to help break the news to the public that Spike and I are indeed an item," the princess said softly as she held him close, the feeling of the cool metal seeping through her gorgeous dress. "It would be much easier for the public to accept such news from the constant heroes you've become, rather than by some royal decree. Plus, through the power of word-of-mouth, the news will spread quicker but be far less shocking if it comes from you, and from those you tell to others. Plus, with you all being very reputable sources, more so than say, the staff of Canterlot palace, then the words will not only carry with them a degree of reputability, but will also help cut down on the news becoming muddled with all sorts of hearsay and rumors."

"You can count on us, yer highness," Applejack said with a bow. "We'll start spreadin' the news as soon as we can. Right now, we need ta get Twilight here someplace nice n' comfortable before she comes to." The six of them walked off, Rarity escorting Twilight, who still seemed too shocked to do anything but repeat the word "what" and walk along, assisted of course.

Much later...

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Doctor Howser," Celestia said as she reclined on her massive, incredibly comfy bed. It had taken a considerable amount of time before she had just relinquished control of the situation and just got some help.

"It is nothing, your highness," the doctor replied, a fairly young stallion with a rather peculiar mane. "Now, what seems to be the problem? It is not every day that a princess calls me in for a house examination, so I would prefer to know just what is going on before determining the cause and effect."

It had been nearly three weeks since Celestia and Spike had told Twilight and the others the truth of them "saving" the world, and since then, Spike had moved into the Canterlot palace. Other than just finally snapping Twilight out of her "trance" and convincing her that Spike's newfound position of power meant he really needed to move out of the library, things had been progressing rather splendidly. Twilight was still preparing a lecture for Spike, it seemed, and was almost building it up like it were some case in court, but for now, at least, she was going along with everything. The general public now knew that Spike and Celestia had saved the world, and in doing so, had become a couple of sorts, thanks to the efforts of the Elements of Harmony.

At first, Celestia had thought her nephew might have been rather upset over the fact that his aunt was now seeing a dragon, but to her disbelief, he said nothing of it. Apparently, to Prince Blueblood, Celestia needed somepony, or in this case, some dragon, in her life, and although he wasn't exactly praising her choice on a lover, he wasn't disapproving of it. At least, he was being quiet about the whole thing; sometimes he could be so brazen about his views, and other times, he could be as subtle as a light breeze blowing along dandelion fuzz. She'd have to keep an eye on him, as always, just to be sure he wasn't planning something nefarious or stupid.

The only real problem had been the purists rearing their stupid heads soon after, calling for Spike to be banished or some nonsense for "violating" their "perfect" princess. It hadn't taken long before they were disgraced by their own female relatives asking to "see" Spike, something that caused the dragon no small amount of amusement. They had all eventually shut up when Celestia had personally visited them in the legislature and politely told them that it was none of their concern who she had a relationship with. Spike hadn't touched another mare since Celestia and he had had sex last (that had been nearly a week ago, which now felt like forever to Celestia), and though his devotion to her was unwavering, Celestia was secretly hoping Spike wouldn't be stingy with what he could give. She wasn't blind to the slightly longing looks many of the maids gave the Royal Aegis, looks that he either didn't notice or outright ignored. Celestia would have none of that; she would have him "help" others if she had to give him a command to do so.

Speaking of commands, she loved it when he took command in the bedroom...

"Your highness? What seems to be the problem?" Dr. Howser asked, looking at the princess with concern. "Are you all right?"

"What? Oh, yes, yes, I was just... thinking," the princess said. "Princess Luna and I are on speaking terms again. There's just been so much happening in these past few weeks that the residual anger of our spat a few weeks ago has subsided, or, at the very least, cooled to where we can actually have a pleasant conversation."

"Right; you already told me it was she who recommended me to come visit you," the doctor said. "Now, what seems to be the problem?" He seemed to be a rather patient stallion, though it was fairly obvious he'd prefer if she didn't beat around the bush and just told him what was wrong.

"Dr. Howser, I've been feeling... off, lately," Celestia said simply. "I've been princess for a very long time, and until recently, I've had my share of normal problems. Quarrelsome nobles, the occasional cold, a case of the feather flu, hydra infestations in the outlying areas, even a few migraines here and there, but as a whole, most of my "normal" problems have been easily managed. Only..."

"Only what?" he asked curiously.

"I've been having these terrible headaches," Celestia said. "I've never quite had anything like them before. They aren't the worst I've ever had, but they last far longer than any before them, and they're just so... consistent. Almost like clockwork, in fact, day in and day out. I've had to plan around them so I can stay focused during my many diplomatic and administrative dealings." Thankfully Spike was really embracing his role in administrative dealings within the castle, which had significantly cut her own workload, but she was a princess, and that meant she still had far more work to do than most might have guessed.

"I see," the doctor said, taking some notes. "Anything else?"

"Well, nearly every morning I wake up, I feel ill, like I'm going to vomit," the princess said. "I've been missing my early morning breakfast for a week now, simply because I can't seem to keep down anything I eat before ten o'clock or so. I loved eating an early breakfast, all my life in fact, but now, I just... can't."

"Uh huh," Dr. Howser said, his quill scribbling quickly across his tab of notes. "Anything else bothering you?"

"Well, aside from some tenderness and what might be slight swelling in my breasts, I've just been... really tired," Celestia said. "Doctor, I'm a very active mare, what with running the kingdom for most of the day, and my sister taking over for me during the night. I am brimming with energy, always, even on my worst days. I manage to accomplish in hours what my constituents in other kingdoms might take days to finish. Only now, sometimes, I just feel like I can't get out of bed in the morning, or on the converse, I just can't wait to go to bed at night. Is that normal, or am I just imagining it?"

"Hmm," the doctor said, his magic coming to life. "These are all very interesting symptoms, your highness. With your permission, I would like to run a small test; very simple and totally painless."

"Yes, yes, of course," Celestia said, gently massaging her temples as she felt a soothing presence wash over her. The doctor's aura of magic, a very dark blue, slowly scanned her entire body, focusing especially on her horn and her wings. It felt relaxing to Celestia; she had no idea why so many ponies, according to Luna, had bad dreams about doctors and hospitals.

"Well, the good news is that you are not sick, nor do you have any sort of magical poisoning or the like," the doctor said. "I was worried for a minute there that you may have picked up something from this island I've heard about. Is it really as beautiful as the rumors have made it out to be?"

"Yes, yes it is, or at least, it will be again, given some time," Celestia said. "A good portion of the mountain did fall onto the rest of the island, and raging fires did wreak havoc on it for a while."

"I see," the doctor said, his magical aura fading. He appeared as calm and professional as ever, though there was a tenseness to him that hadn't been there before. "Your highness, I'm afraid I have some... strange news. I've never experienced anything like this before during a test, but I'll do my best to put it in simple terms."

"What?" she asked. "What is it?"

"Princess Celestia, you're-,"

"Celestia, do you have a minute, I need to talk to you about-,"

"-pregnant."

Celestia turned to see Spike, his jaw opened, but his words dying in his mouth as the word "pregnant" seemed to reverberate through the room. A light breeze made the curtains lazily ruffle, the fabric generating a soft scraping noise against the frame; the entire sky seemed to brighten slightly as if the sun's light output had suddenly and instantaneously increased. The doctor quietly excused himself, as it seemed he had been forgotten after delivering the news. Their eyes locked, the princess and the dragon simply looked at each other for a minute or two before saying the same thing.

"Oh."


	14. Epilogue

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

Celestia softly sighed as she looked down at the pile of papers in front of her, feeling as though these had been her main focus for most of the day. Treaties, laws, visiting diplomats, quarrels amongst the minor nobility once again... it was something she had grown used to in her long life, but it now seemed to annoy her without end. Then again, after what she'd been through, it was a small reprieve to just be able to sit here, in relative peace and quiet.

Well, not always. Sometimes her new roommate would get a bit loud, especially when they were hungry, though when it happened, she soothed them over fairly quickly.

It was so hard to believe that eleven months had gone by so fast, even by the fact that she's personally seen millennia come and go like mere days. But she could still remember the first month, and fondly at that, but the rest seemed to blur together for her, never being quite distinct enough to warrant more than a snippet of her memory...

"Pregnant?" Spike repeated as he lay by Celestia's side. "How... how can we be so sure, so soon? It's only been like, what, a few weeks?"

"Spike, I told the doctor my symptoms, and he said that I was, indeed, pregnant," Celestia said softly, looking down at her belly almost as if expecting it to grow before her very eyes. "I'm just as surprised as you are."

"I'm not sure, I always had a feeling that, you know, us... doing it would have some repercussion," Spike said. "We didn't use any, you know... protection."

"Spike, you and I both know that any sort of "protection" would never have been able to stand up to what we would have been putting it through," the princess said. "All we can do now is accept the consequences of our actions and... let nature take its course."

"But, how are we going to do that? I mean, it's one thing that I'm the Royal Aegis and High Prefect and all, but... this? I didn't think this was in the job description."

"What wasn't? Fatherhood?" The princess asked, feeling a sudden heaviness in her heart. Was he having second thoughts? Was he... was he thinking of leaving?

"I... I just don't know if I'm ready," the dragon mumbled. "I'm just... just worried."

"About what? The pregnancy?" She asked. "Spike, I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll likely have doctors on standby through every second of it."

"No, no. I know you'll be fine. I'm just... I'm scared about the baby and me. What if... what if I'm not cut out to be a dad? What if I'm a terrible father? What if the baby hates me?"

Celestia was shocked: Spike seemed so scared, at a so close, and yet distant future, that... almost scared her, too. "Spike?" She asked, pulling him close, kissing him on his trembling forehead. "Why are you so scared? Don't you want to be a father?"

He shivered beneath her touch. "Yes, yes, of course! I've always wanted to be a dad, but... I have nothing to draw off of."

"What do you mean?" The alicorn asked.

"I... I didn't have a father," Spike said. "At least, not like everypony else. He wasn't there when I hatched; I'm not even sure if he's still alive, somewhere. I didn't have a father to teach me what it means to be, well... a dragon. I didn't have a father to be there for me, to teach me to be a drake. I had Twilight, and her family, but... they weren't my family-family, you know? I love them all, I really do, but... I just didn't have what they had, and I feel so bad for thinking that. They gave me nothing but love and support, and yet... they were never up to the task of teaching me to be a dragon. All of that, all of it, I had to learn on my own, and I just know I'm missing out on a lot of stuff. I-,"

Celestia silenced his stammering with a soft kiss. "Spike, you truly are the noblest of any dragon that I have ever met," she said softly. "You were willing to potentially sacrifice yourself for your friends and for the world; you almost did. You were willing to make me the happiest mare in the world, not as a duty for your princess, but as a duty to a friend. You have given me more than what I thought I would ever have, and because of that, I have become more than what I thought I could be. Yet here you are, worrying about things that seem major, but yet... to us, to the two of us, they are but little things. You have concerns, questions, fears; we all do, Spike, especially me."

"Really?" Spike asked, kissing her back for a few seconds.

"Yes, my love," she said softly. "Times are different; you are going to be a father, a father of a dragon-alicorn foal. It will not be an easy road, I imagine, but I will be there with you every step of the way."

"Thanks, Celestia," the dragon mumbled, nestling his body against hers. "I... I love you too."

The next most prominent memory was several weeks later, in the throne room...

The alicorn princess steadied herself. Now was as good a time as ever to tell them, but... it felt so wrong to have waited this long to actually let them know. The press, she could handle; nobles and politicians she could deal with in stride. However, to those closest to her, the next few minutes would be a... challenging time for her. A whole month into her pregnancy, and Twilight Sparkle, the other Elements of Harmony, even her own sister, Luna, did not know. Princess Candace didn't know either, but she wasn't here; Celestia would have to send her a letter soon after.

Problem was... Spike wasn't in the castle. She sent him off to a distant corner of Equestria, by way of express air mail, to protect him. Not from Luna's wrath, which potentially could be substantial, but from her student, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight would not understand what was going on, and would demand answers from Spike like there was no tomorrow. She would pester, berate, interrogate, and perhaps drive him mad, driving a wedge into their relationship, all because she couldn't handle what was being told to her. Celestia didn't want to put Spike through that any more than she wanted Twilight to go through it. He'd likely catch enough flak as it was from the general public who didn't like the fact he was her consort; such was the secondary cause for him being far away from Canterlot.

"You may let them in," she said to the aide that was patiently waiting by her side, who, with a bow, walked off and returned with all six Elements of Harmony, as well as Princess Luna.

"Yer Highness?" Applejack asked, removing her hat as the rest of them, save for Luna, politely bowed.

"Yes, Applejack?" The princess replied.

"Ah'm not sure why this here meetin' was called, and was wonderin' if y'all could explain things a bit more... slowly. Last time we were at a meetin' like this, Twilight darn near broke from the shock of it all, and-,"

"Applejack, I did not "break", as you say," the unicorn interjected. "I was merely shocked at what had happened, and-,"

"Couldn't stop sayin' "what" fer another few hours?" The earth pony said, a raised eyebrow expressing her disbelief.

"Yes, well, no, but I, but she... shut up," Twilight mumbled, a blush forming across her cheeks.

"Before this topic derails further than it has already, sister, why did you wish to see us?" Luna asked, glancing at the clock. "Our daily sponge bath is soon, and we do not wish to dawdle."

"Sponge bath? Since when did you take sponge baths?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Ever since me and her had that super big sleepover!" Pinkie Pie said with a lighthearted giggle. Then again, most of her giggles were lighthearted. "Only thing better than a sponge bath is a bubble bath!"

Celestia couldn't hold it in any more. "I'm pregnant."

Seven pairs of eyes locked on the white alicorn princess, mirroring similar and yet different emotions.

Fluttershy was shocked but ready to squeal with joy.

Pinkie Pie was smiling so hard she might have pulled a few muscles in her face.

Rainbow Dash dropped to the ground, too shocked to fly.

Applejack was shocked, but also confused, seeing as she always removed her hat whenever things became a bit too convoluted for her brain to handle.

Princess Luna was somewhere between shocked, confused, and outright outraged.

Rarity was close to fainting.

While Twilight Sparkle face planted in front of them all in shock.

"Ah think y'all done broke Twilight fer good this time, yer Highness," Applejack said as she slowly lifted the purple unicorn back to a standing position.

"I sincerely hope not," Celestia said.

"You're... you're pregnant? For real?" Rainbow Dash asked, somehow managing to pick her lower jaw off the floor enough to speak.

"Yes," the alicorn replied. "A month along, in fact."

"Why did you wait so long to tell us?" It was not Twilight who asked this, but Luna.

"I was unsure of how you would react, and I needed you all to be present at the same time," Celestia said simply. "I also needed to make arrangements so that Spike would be in a safe place after the announcement."

"A safe place? Why'd he need somethin' like that?" Applejack asked.

"I can name a few things," the princess of the sun said, her gaze lingering over Twilight and Luna. "However, seeing as my precautions weren't fully needed, my biggest concern is still the reaction of the public: particularly the ones that won't enjoy hearing that he's my consort. Seeing that news like this shall surely ruffle more than a few feathers."

"More like the whole kingdom would go crazy," Rarity said softly.

"No more crazy than when mother and father visit to see their first grandfoal," Luna said.

Luna hadn't been lying when she said that; indeed, if her parent's response letter had indicated as much, they were already heading for Earth as fast as they could. The fact that they missed the big day, due to some large anomalous planetoid threatening to destroy a good portion of Saturn's rings, clearly upsetting them, but in her heart, Celestia felt no ill will towards them for it. In fact, she was glad they hadn't been there, seeing how stressful the birth was for her and the nation, already; it would've been near-chaos if her parents had shown up as well. The populace could only take so much news at one time.

That was why she told the Elements of Harmony about her pregnancy before anypony else: her doctor had been sworn to secrecy, as well as all of her servants; be they butlers, cooks, maids or guards. She had revealed the news to the public close to five days after she had told Twilight Sparkle and the others in private.

It was a simpler thing to tell the public than it was to deal with the fallout, afterwards. The "anti-Spike" faction exploded, both in numbers and in volume of discontent. Many, for some reason, called for his banishment, which, as Celestia pointed out, made no sense. Some called for him to be tried for rape or rape through coercion, something her sister, Luna, had nearly blown a gasket over, much to Celestia's surprise. If it wasn't for the elder alicorn's more suave diplomatic skills, the princess of the night might've instigated mass-lawsuits against all the naysayers. Then, almost as soon as the "anti-Spike" faction had grown, it imploded; its members divided over how to react to the news that Princess Celestia was pregnant.

It was quite humorous, actually, to see them grow so large so fast, only to fall completely apart as their blood cooled and they began to realize there was going to be an heir to the throne. Some, of course, were likely trying to curry favor with the princesses so that they wouldn't be forbidden from attending the naming ceremony. Others, perhaps, realized that if Celestia was happy with Spike, then maybe they should be happy for her as well, regardless of how they felt on the situation.

In either case, it was still a few weeks before Celestia sent for Spike to return from his hiding place in a far corner of Equestria. The fact that the guards she sent with him also kept his location hidden was, to her, a breath of fresh air, as there had been a short-lived media frenzy offering huge sums of money to find out where he was.

By the end of the second month of the pregnancy, she could feel her body changing far more than she would have liked. Her royal rump had begun to swell past its previous dimensions, along with her hips, breasts and belly. The love/hate relationship she'd had with her changing body had amused Spike to no end. She'd complain that she was getting fat, to which Spike responded that there was simply more of her to love. She'd then go off on a tangent every few days about how she'd never regain her royal figure, which Spike replied with the fact that he'd love her no matter what, and that while her stomach would go back down, the rest of her body would still be all the more sexy for it.

She could still remember the bedroom conversation near the middle of the third month, after Spike had informed her that Prince Blueblood had come to see him in private.

"So, what did he want?" She asked as he massaged her lower back.

"He wanted us to talk about you," the dragon replied. "He wanted to know how you were doing, and if I was doing all I could to help you along."

"Help me along?"

"Well, he told me that pregnant mares love being held, massaged, hugged, and kisses, you know, stuff like that. Don't buy them gifts unless they actually mean something; useless trinkets just seem to be more stressful than relaxing, especially if money is tight."

"How would he know any of that?"

"He said that he remembers the guards, during his younger years, being like that with their wives whenever he stopped by their homes. He stressed the importance of massages, though."

"Did he now? I would never have guessed him as the sort to know these things."

"Well, I wouldn't have either, but he did tell me that it helps with the pregnancy. He also stressed that mares are less likely to experience mood swings if they are comfortable and less stressed out."

"I see... So, Spike, in your opinion, have I been... moody?"

"...I would prefer to not answer that."

"What? Why not?"

"I'm not sure what qualifies as "moody" for you."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you yelled at some of the maids the other day to the point where one of them cried."

"They were looking at you, and I apologized, didn't I?"

"Tia, everypony looks at me when I walk in the room; the armor you had made for me kinda makes me stick out."

"They were looking at areas I didn't want them looking."

"But you were the one who said that I'd help Luna with her estrus. Then you go and yell at mares for staring at me?"

"That was different. I wanted you to myself for now, or for as long as I can have you."

"Celestia, we'll have each other for thousands of years. I'm not sure we can have each other more than that."

"Oh? That is where you are wrong, mister dragon. I've seen the way you stare at my big, firm butt. You want it, don't you?"

"Um... I'm not really sure I like where this is going..."

"Stick it in."

"But I don't wanna..."

"Do it."

"No. I still don't get why you want me to. It seems... weird, okay? That, and I don't want to risk hurting the foal."

"Because we haven't had sex for almost two months, and it won't hurt the foal, I promise."

"Celestia, after the foal is born, we'll be able to have worry-free sex for a thousand years before your next cycle. Think of that."

"Fine, fine, I think it can wait eight more months. But as soon as the foal comes, you better be ready as well."

"See what I said about being moody? You've gone from protective to pouty, to overly sexual in less time than it takes for me to write a letter."

"I love you too, dear. Oh, yes, keep rubbing there, my back is still killing me..."

Well, she had waited eight months alright, nine in fact, and rising from her desk, Celestia slowly walked over to the far side of her room, where a small crib lay a short distance from her bed.

"How is she?" She asked softly, sitting down next to a softly cooing dragon.

"Sleeping like an angel," Spike replied as he softly cradled the little bundle in his arms. "Then again, when isn't she?"

"When it's three in the morning," Celestia said with a soft chuckle, her finger gently grazing the sleeping foal's forehead, the flowing little pink mane curling slightly around her finger. A pelt as white as her mother's, but with eyes that, when they weren't closed in sleep, harbored the same green flame as her father's. Little white wings, tinged with an inner purple hue, sprouted from her back, and her little horn jutted from her forehead, the soft spiral an alternating white and lavender tone. She had no claws or fangs, but her scaly tail was more like that of her father, save for the absence of spines. Those same scales covered her hands and hooves as well, the soft little bumps feeling like silk under her parent's touch. The little filly's mane sparkled in the sunshine as if woven from the dew of morning, the light shade of pink much like Celestia's own at that young age.

"You like the name we gave her?" Spike asked.

"I love it. I'm surprised I liked your choice better than my own, seeing that we've been giving thought to it since day one."

"Well, we agreed that if it was a colt, we'd use the name you chose: Solaire, and if it was a filly, we'd use mine: Zenitha."

"Both are fine names, but I think Zenitha fits her personality far better," Celestia said softly, watching as the little filly snuggled into her father's arms, her expression peaceful as she slept. "She is the summit of our journey to save the world; the culmination of all we went through, and what we discovered there together."

"Is that why she's so beautiful?" The dragon asked, gently kissing his daughter on the forehead.

"Maybe," the alicorn whispered. "Then again, having parents like us surely helps."

"I love her, regardless of how she looks."

"Me too."

The pair of them sat in silence, simply content with watching their daughter sleep in her father's arms. In the eleven months since little Zenitha's conception, much to Celestia's surprise, Spike had filled out considerably. Before, he had been in shape, yes, but rather skinny, or at least, compared to what he was now; he must've been training under all of that armor she'd given him. He wasn't some hulking brute of a dragon, but more of a leonine one: with muscles everywhere, but not overly so. Still, his increased physical prowess and overall morphological change mattered little to her when she saw the way he held their daughter in his arms. It was as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

And to each of them, she was.

"Have you thought about a middle name?" Spike asked.

"Honestly, I haven't very much, but I have given thought to her godparents," Celestia replied. Hard to believe their daughter was already a month old and they still hadn't decided on this matter yet.

"We agreed that Prince Blueblood would not be her godfather," Spike said.

"And we both know that choosing Luna to be her godmother would be particularly problematic, especially when her "time" comes around," the alicorn replied, remembering back to the promise she had made to her sister. "Then, who should we choose?"

"I'm not sure," the purple dragon replied, slowly lowering the foal into her cradle as he did. "How about Twilight?"

"Well, I was thinking that, but what about Shining Armor's foals? Isn't Twilight already a godmother to one of them?"

"Wait, yeah, she is. How could I have forgotten? Well, she's out, but then who's left to pick?"

"We'd have to come up with some sort of list," Celestia replied. "Maybe we should worry about that a little bit later; after my parents leave."

"Speaking of that, when are they going to get here?" Spike asked.

"Within a few days, I should assume. You'll know when they do."

"I will?"

"Well, it's not every day that the Aurora Borealis moves this far south, coinciding with what looks to be two shooting stars arcing towards the castle."

"Oh. So... we'll definitely know when they get here?"

"Most definitely."

"Anyways, about her middle name..."

"Yes, Spike?"

"Well, I was thinking about it... something about alicorn names being kind of centered around space, right? The cosmos and all that?"

"Why, yes; it's a very ancient tradition amongst our kind."

"Well, I was thinking... Andromeda."

"What?"

"Andromeda. You know, one of those galaxies you showed me."

Celestia was stunned. Here she thought Spike would want their daughter's middle name to be something reflecting her draconic heritage, like Sapphire or Ruby or Amethyst, but here he was, looking to the stars for an answer.

She smiled. "I think it's a lovely name. Now, she has her own personal spot in the night sky to call her own."

"I wasn't thinking about it like that, but you make it sound even better, now," he said with a smile.

"So, Andromeda it is, then."

There was a soft knock at the door, catching both of their attentions as Princess Luna entered, subdued and appearing rather plain in her court gown. "Is... is she asleep?" The princess whispered.

"Yes, she is," Celestia replied. "Come, sit; Spike and I have somewhere to be soon, and I would appreciate it if you could watch over her dreams for us, if only for a little while."

"I would be honored," Luna said as she sat down on the bed. "She has only known me from but fleeting glimpses whenever she isn't being fed or changed."

"Then make the most of your time," Spike said with a smile, knowing full well that Luna had long forgiven him for all the stress he and Celestia had put her, and basically the entire kingdom, through. The very last vestiges of which had been erased when little Zenitha had opened her eyes after a nap, gently grabbing onto one of Luna's outstretched fingers, as if saying hello.

"If you have any questions or concerns, just ask for the guards and maids outside," Celestia said as she gently led Spike away. Luna nodded silently, her gaze drifting back to the little, peacefully sleeping, filly in the cradle before her.

"Hey there, Zenitha. It's me, your auntie Luna," she softly cooed as the filly's parents silently left the room.

"I still think she'd make a great godmother," Spike said as they walked down the corridors, their informal robes swirling softly around them.

"Yes, but the last thing we need is for her to walk in on the two of you and wind up asking me "mommy, why are daddy and auntie Luna wrestling?" And have me try to explain to her about the birds and the bees."

Spike blushed slightly at her remark about "wrestling", but hey, if it were to happen, it would; not that he'd ever want it to happen, of course. "Wow, we really are parents."

"Already planning our daughter's future," the alicorn replied with a soft laugh, turning a corner as the two of them found themselves at a door to a place Spike had not seen in some time.

"The old library? What are we doing here?" He asked as she led him through the doors.

"To have some privacy," Celestia replied, a smirk growing on her lips as she carefully shut the door behind them.

"Why would we need privacy?"

"Because a promise is a promise," the princess said as she slowly reached up and began removing the clasps holding her robe together. "I've waited over eight months, Spike; nine, to be exact. And I'm holding you to the promise you made as you massaged my back, telling me all about how I was being moody that week."

Spike's eyes bulged slightly, as the realization of what she was alluding to hit him like a ton of bricks. "You... you want to do that? Here? Now?"

"I think it's as good a time as any," the princess replied simply, letting the robe fall away from her body as her magic started loosening Spike's as well. "We're all alone, Zenitha is being looked after, I locked the door, nopony comes here this time of day, and my parents aren't due to arrive for days. So, mister dragon, I expect you to perform... admirably."

He gulped.

Meanwhile...

"Princess Luna?" A voice said.

"Yes, come in," the princess called softly, withdrawing from her little niece's dreams. At her age, they weren't all that coherent, but there was comfort, warmth, a sense of belonging; the simple things babies thought about.

"I was told to come to you immediately when the signs appeared," the voice said, the owner stepping into the room as softly as he could, showing himself to be one of the butlers; an elderly stallion by the name of Walter.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Well, my lady, it appeared in the sky five minutes ago."

"What?"

"I said, it appeared—,"

"No, I heard you the first time. The signs... my parents are here!"

As silently as a breeze and as swiftly as a hawk, the princess strode out of the room and turned to the waiting maids and guards. "Watch over Zenitha as if your very life depends on it," she said before quickly departing. The group quietly walked into the room and shut the door behind them, waiting to be relieved when the princesses returned.

As she entered her room and magically began summoning clothes to herself, Luna's mind raced with the possibilities. Her mother and father were here already?! They were not just early, they were downright ready to knock on the door to the castle! "How did they get here so far ahead of schedule?" She whispered, throwing off her casual gown and dressing herself in something more befitting an event such as this. "Is Celestia waiting for them at the door?"

Meanwhile...

"Mmm, yes, Spike; massage my breasts," Celestia moaned as her naked lover lay atop her, his hands gently kneading her enormous fleshy globes. "Suck on my nipples."

"They're so big and puffy," Spike whispered back as he did so, surprised to find milk enter his mouth as he sucked. "You taste so sweet, my sweet."

"Yes, drink, drink me until you're full, my stud."

Meanwhile...

"Has anypony seen Celestia?" Luna asked as she hurried towards the front doors with as much grace as she could muster, nearly outpacing the two royal guards and maid hurrying alongside her.

"We have not seen her, your grace," one of the soldiers replied.

"Shall we look for her?" The other guard asked.

"No, but if she does not show before they arrive, then I will simply have to explain to the public that my sister was feeling a tad under the weather today," the princess said. As soon as she reached the doors, she paused; taking in a deep breath to try and calm herself. "It is okay, Luna, you can do this, it's just your parents... who you haven't seen in a very long time," she added to herself.

With her magic barely pushing against the doors, she slowly opened them, just in time to see a great light flash across the distant sky. They were almost here. All around the courtyard and down the streets, ponies had gathered in haste. Many mares were straightening out their manes in a hurry as many stallions were doing the same. Some were dressed for the event, even to the point where they looked like they slept in their finest clothes, and yet others were dressed in what they would wear on any ordinary day. The crowded streets were filled with a dull buzzing sound, the noise generated by the constant, hushed whispers of all those attending.

High in the sky, a pair of what looked to be shooting stars began to grow larger, but Luna knew it to be a trick of the light. They were in fact becoming brighter, seeing as they were drawing closer and closer. Many ponies, unable to get a good look from the street level, had already taken to the upper-story windows of their homes and even neighboring rooftops.

Even as the sun lay high in the sky, it's light seemed to dim slightly as the two great glowing lights descended, drawing closer and closer to one another. Soon enough, they were as one bright ball, and with many an eye being shielded by their brilliance, they landed in the middle of the castle courtyard. After a small pulse of light brightened the area, even for the briefest of seconds, the light slowly began to fade away, and upon it's full retreat, there stood two figures.

The guard set to announce their arrival blinked several times in confusion before speaking. "May I present: Lord Orion and Lady Polaris, High Members of the Alicorn Council."

The pair of them were clad in the most brilliant of clothes anypony had ever seen. Robes cast from moonlight and filled with the lights of countless stars. Laurel wreaths lay upon their heads, swirling and colored as if created from miniature galaxies. They both had with them strange armor that adorned their lower legs and forearms, glittering and shimmering with an intensity that would put the most finely polished metals to shame. Even the buttons that held the robes together shimmered in the sunlight, seemingly changing color with each passing moment.

But as amazing as these clothes were, they were mere trinkets compared to the sight of the ones that were wearing them.

Lord Orion stood tall and proud, his stature ramrod straight and unwavering in its posture. He was tall, far taller than any of the ponies gathered. His pelt was the color of volcanic ash, and his mane carried with it the color of a blue supergiant star. His build was like that of an Olympic athlete, sculpted far beyond what mere mortals may consider to be "normal", with great biceps and pectorals and triceps and abdominals and all manner of muscles that carried within them strength and power. His great wings, now folded behind him, were of such size and apparent power that nopony doubted he could blow most of them away with but a single beat of them. His horn was long and curved, like that of a ram, only no ram could possess a horn which looked as if it was casted from the heart of a neutron star. As his eyes scanned the crowd, many saw that they were golden, almost glowing in nature, set in a face that made models seem like swines and upon a jaw that looked as if it could compress steel.

Countless mares fainted that day, due to his sheer magnificence, and more than a few stallions did as well.

Lady Polaris was several inches shorter than her husband, but she still towered over all of those gathered that day. Her eyes shone with a light blue hue, like that of glacial ice, yet her expression was warm and inviting. Her face held within it a kindness that made so many ponies wish to weep for joy, and the mane that flowed from her was streaked with rows upon rows of silver, gold, and crimson hues. Her pelt was a blue so deep that it rivalled that of the ocean depths, and her wings, though again slightly smaller than her husbands, were tipped with purest white, as if they had been dipped in the foam of a restless sea. Her horn was slightly curved, long and slender, colored mostly in deep blues and, like her wings, tipped at the very end in purest white. But her body... it would become the stuff of legends for the ponies gathered that day. She was built like her daughters, yet, somehow, only more so. Her curves, her edges, her everything seemed to make every model that's ever graced the runway to look like they were simply fillies playing dress-up, fillies that had no concept of just what it took to possess a body that seemed as if it had been crafted by the gods of gods.

Many a pony that day experienced a deep shame at the feelings they experienced, gazing upon her form. It did not matter if they were single or married, stallion or mare; they could barely comprehend what they were gazing upon.

Yet, it was in complete silence that everypony watched the two slowly make their way towards Princess Luna.

Meanwhile...

"I forgot how good you tasted," Celestia muttered as she let her tongue grace over the tip of Spike's cock, licking it several times before taking the head into her mouth and lightly sucking.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," he replied, his voice muffled by the fact he was underneath her, kneading the flesh around her inner thighs with his fingers, as his tongue began to caress her marehood, bucking slightly every now and then, if only to revel in the suckling sensation. "Mmm, you taste so good, too."

Meanwhile...

"Your highnesses," Princes Luna said with a prim and proper bow, her parents standing before her. "I welcome you into my home on this most auspicious day."

"Princess Luna," they replied in unison. Lord Orion's voice was low, like a whisper, yet carried a tone so deep, so strong, so powerful, that it seemed to vibrate throughout the entire courtyard. Lady Polaris, on the other hand, had a voice softer than silk, sweeter than honey, and filled with a confidence that was just infectious to the hushed crowds. "We are most glad to have been invited."

Silently, they followed their daughter into the castle, and with nary a sound, the great doors closed behind them. Outside, the public remained as quiet as church mice, unsure of what they had seen or even how to explain it to those who had not been there. Then, in ones, twos, and threes, they began to disperse, silently returning to their homes, businesses, or whatever they had been doing before the arrival of the princesses' parents. The guards slowly filtered into the castle by way of side doors, as was custom for such events; they too, could hardly believe what they had seen.

Inside, Luna was between her parents, in the middle of a hug. "It's good to see you," she said as they broke apart, smiles all around.

"It is good to see you too, Luna," Orion said, his neatly trimmed goatee framing his smile very well.

"How have you been?" Polaris asked, non-parental concern absent from her voice. Instead, she was genuinely interested, as the two of them had not seen their daughters in quite some time, and as any parent would, she wanted to know what she had been missing out on.

"Well, everything is fine and dandy, to be honest," Luna said as they walked. "Celestia's pregnancy was as normal and healthy as one would expect; no problems, no complications before the delivery, things like that. Only... well, Celestia did take a bit longer to dilate than what was expected."

"She did?" Orion queried.

"Yes, and while the birth itself was fine, Celestia accidentally blew off the top of the tower she was in when she pushed."

"Was anypony hurt?" Polaris asked.

"No, no. Nopony was hurt, thankfully, but the repairs will take several weeks to complete," Luna said. Where was Celestia? She and Spike should've been here by now. "Would you like to see your first grandfoal?"

"Oh, yes, most definitely," Polaris said with a smile.

Meanwhile...

"Oh, YES! I missed that so MUCH!" Celestia moaned, grinding herself against his rock hard cock that slipped inside her with only a touch of effort. Slowly bouncing up and down as her lover's hands grasped her jiggly ass. Celestia smiled at Spike, sweat beginning to form along her brow. "You have no idea how LONG I've been waiting to do this again."

"Well then, we'll see how LONG you can last before I have you squealing my name!" The dragon replied with a laugh.

Meanwhile...

The guards standing in front of Celestia's doors impeccably parted ways as Luna led her parents into where Zenitha lay. One of the maids, even as her eyes nearly bugged out of her head in awe at the two elder alicorns, rushed over to Princess Luna. "She awoke about five minutes ago," the maid said.

"She did? Has she been changed?" Luna asked.

"Yes, yes, everything has been taken care of; clean as a whistle."

"Mom, Dad, this is Zenitha," Luna said as she led them past the bed and around the crib. From down below, the little filly looked up at her aunt and grandparents with an expression of befuddlement and curiosity.

"Oh, she's beautiful!" Polaris whispered, reaching down the gently caress the filly's face. Instinctively, little Zenitha latched onto the hand with her tiny fingers, pressing her cheek into the soft, warm palm.

"She looks just like Celestia when she was that age," Orion said softly, marvelling at his tiny granddaughter. "Minus the tail of course."

"How much else of her father did she inherit?" Polaris asked, looking over at Luna. "She looks more like an alicorn than a dragon; I'd have thought it'd be a somewhat equal mix of traits."

"Other than the tail, her eyes are as green as his, the small scales along her belly and legs are his, and the purplish hue in her feathers and horn are his as well. We haven't seen any signs of her growing fangs or breathing fire, but we're prepared in case she does."

"Well, I'm sure Celestia would love to talk with us about little Zenitha here," Orion said as he watched the little filly's eyes look up at him. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Um, I'm not quite sure," Luna said. "She was supposed to be with me when you arrived, but she must have been—,"

"Preoccupied," a voice said, causing the three of them to look towards the door. There stood Celestia, her robes slightly wrinkled and her voice somewhat hurried, as if she were out of breath.

"Celestia!" Polaris said, walking over and pulling her eldest daughter into a hug. "Oh, it is so good to see you!"

"Hi, mom," she said, giving the elder mare a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for the ceremony: I was... preoccupied."

"Yes, we were," another voice said, and, if with a somewhat embarrassed stature, walked in Spike, his own robes matching Celestia's in appearance, and slightly out of breath as well.

"Hello; you must be Spike," Orion said, walking over and extending his hand. "Celestia has told us so much about you through her letters."

"All good things, I hope," the dragon said, feeling in awe of the taller alicorn before him. That, and slightly scared; this was Celestia's father, for crying out loud! How could he not be intimidated? "So, um... how was your journey?"

"Oh, it was good, though the planetoid near Saturn was more of a delay than we expected," the alicorn stallion replied. "We were hoping to talk with you about your upcoming bonding with our daughter."

"Orion, please, not now," Lady Polaris said with a grin as she walked over and hugged Spike as well. Wow, like mother like daughter; bodywise, that was: Spike was so thankful he could control himself to not just melt in her hug. "We've only just arrived, and we'll have plenty of time to talk about that later. Now, tell me, young drake, just how did you and my little Tia come to be together?"

"Mom, why do you have to call me that whenever we're around company?" Celestia asked, sounding less like a princess and more like a little filly whining about a nickname her parents had given her against her will. "It's embarrassing."

"Tia, I haven't seen you in ages, and besides, I'm your mother; it's my job to embarrass you."

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't do so in front of him," Celestia said, nodding her head in the dragon's direction.

"Hey, I have a name, you know."

"Of course you do, dear," the princess said, coyly batting her eyelashes at him as she held his hand. "Now, mother, if you wish to know how we met, then we'll have to start at the beginning. It was many years ago..."

As Celestia explained how his egg came to be in her possession and his eventual hatching, Spike thought back to just a few minutes before, when they were indeed "preoccupied" during her parent's arrival...

"Are you sure about this?" He had asked as he flipped her over, her big juicy butt jiggling slightly as she bent over the empty desk in the library.

"I'm sure," she replied, her hands spreading her cheeks wide enough to reveal the treasure she long desired him to plunder.

"Can we start slow? We'll need lubricant." He still wasn't sure why she wanted this, but who was he to deny his princess what she wanted?

"Spike, I'm gushing like a fire hose right now; you're plenty lubricated as it is."

"Okay, okay, but I'm just putting the tip in for now."

"I am fine with that; now stick it in!"

Slowly, with his throbbing and soaked cock in a trembling hand, Spike pressed the very tip against his lover's asshole, and, in spite of what she apparently wanted, Celestia tensed up, barring access for his rod.

"I thought you wanted this?"

"I do, I just... I don't know what to expect."

"Then just relax, okay?"

He watched as his lover forced herself to relax, her body loosening up all over as she leaned down and spread her cheeks wider. On instinct, Spike snaked his free hand down and under her great asscheeks, beginning to slowly stroke her vaginal walls.

"Ooh, that's good," she moaned softly, visibly relaxing even more. "Mmm, so good, that's it."

Spike pushed a bit harder against his lover's tight ass, and in a flash, felt himself slip inside. Almost immediately, she tightened up again, and the overwhelming feeling of his dick nearly being crushed made stars sparkle in the corners of his vision.

"Hey, what did I say about loosening up?"

"I'm sorry, you're just so... big."

"So, you're telling me you can take this monster without a problem, when it's in your vagina or your mouth, but now, all of a sudden, it's too much for you?"

"Hey, I said I wanted to try it, didn't I? Just... just give me a minute to adjust, okay?"

The seconds ticked by as, indeed, Celestia did loosen around his length. But with every passing minute, Spike would push a little more of himself into her, thus causing her to tighten, thus resulting in him waiting a few seconds for her to loosen up once more. After what seemed like an eternity, Spike finally found himself unable to penetrate any further; he was all the way inside.

"Hey, I... I did it," Celestia moaned, apparently unable to move as she felt her ass rub against Spike's lower abdomen.

"Yeah, we did it," Spike replied, pulling back slightly and thrusting forward. It was so intense, not only the feeling of being so oddly gripped by her inner walls, but the fact that he was actually doing this, doing this with Celestia, the last pony he'd have ever thought would be into something like this...

He wasn't going to last long.

"Ugh! It feels so good," Celestia moaned, her hands reaching up and fiddling with her breasts as Spike gently thrust in and out of her. The sweat pouring from him as he concentrated on just maintaining an even pace, trying not to go full-out blitzkrieg on her fine ass. It was tempting, oh-so-tempting, now that he was getting the hang of it, but if he did, he'd either die, or worse.

"Celestia, I... I..."

"Me too!"

Spike groaned, partly in agony but primarily in pleasure, as he felt Celestia's tight ass cling to him; encouraging him to release all he had into her. He could just feel his balls draining, so much was coming out, so much...

"Mmm, we'll have to try that again, sometime," Celestia muttered as she slowly pushed her lover away, just enough so that he slipped out of her. She somehow managed to cast a small spell to prevent whatever seed of his still clung to his cock from falling, and she visibly clenched to prevent any more of it from escaping her sore, but thoroughly satisfied, rear. "Come now, we should get dressed. The guards are probably wondering where we are."

All he could do was nod.

"-and that's how we saved the world," Celestia finished, knocking Spike out of his little dream state and bringing him back to reality. Oh, right, her parents and the story of how they came together. In some cases, literally.

No need for them to know that part. Ever.

"So, I take it that it was quite an experience for the two of you?" Orion asked.

"You might say that," Spike said, forcing a small grin to keep up appearances.

"Oh, but the fun is only beginning," Polaris said as Luna retrieved Zenitha from her cradle and handed off the somewhat squirmy little filly to Celestia. "Now, as my husband said before, about the bonding..."

"Yes?" Spike asked.

"Well, in our culture, so long as you end up married and are truthful to your partner, it's okay to have a child before you are bonded, and seeing as you two are not married yet, we were wondering if you'd be open to a certain agreement of sorts until the "big day" arrives."

"What kind of agreement?" The dragon asked.

"The kind where you stay loyal to our daughter, and do as she wishes," Orion said simply. "Within reason, of course."

"Um... isn't that what I've already been doing this whole time?"

"Well, yes, you have," Celestia began. "However, there are a few stipulations to what mother and father are talking about, that I've come to realize need changing."

"Such as?" Spike asked.

"Yes, such as?" Her parents echoed.

"Well... I did promise Luna, here, that Spike would assist her when her "time" came, as he did for myself," Celestia said simply. "There's none I would trust more to help her than Spike, after all."

As a blush crept across a silent Luna's face, the two elder alicorns looked over at Spike with curious expression. Orion had a combination of "I should buy you a drink", "what did she say", and "I'm going to kill you", while Polaris was more of a mix of "say what", "jackpot", and "oh my".

Spike was glad he was with Celestia at that moment, or else he'd be running for the hills right now. "So... yeah, about the agreement," he said quickly. "I think it is in my best interests, and those of my daughter, that I do as her mother says. Within reason," he added, glancing at Orion.

"Well then, welcome to the family," Polaris said.

"Yeah, yeah, welcome," Orion added, his look telling Spike that the two of them were going to discuss something in private.

Later...

"So, what did he say?" Celestia asked as she placed a giggling Zenitha down into her crib.

"Stick to you like glue, or else I'm a dead dragon," Spike said. "That, and treat you good, or... same result."

"Aww, don't mind him; he just wasn't expecting the possibility of both his daughters being with the same guy, never mind a dragon," the alicorn replied, gently kissing him on the cheek.

"I'm serious!"

"So am I, love. Now, come to bed," she whispered, pulling him into her warm embrace.

"Okay, okay," he muttered, slowly laying down with her as Zenitha started yawning in her crib. "Is Cadence still coming by, tomorrow?"

"Yes, she is; she can't wait to meet our daughter," Celestia replied, snuggling against her love. "Goodnight, Spike."

"Goodnight, Celestia. I love you."

"Love you, too."

As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, and the night slowly grew deeper and deeper, our two lovers held each other close, at last asleep from the most stressful day the two of them had endured. But, as with so many other things this past year, they had endured it together, and would continue to do so, for many, many years.

The End


End file.
